Intense lobbying, rebel issue behind delay in BJP K’taka list

In at least 15 constituencies, leaders are seeking tickets for their kin and in another 20 for their close family members, the leader said, on anonymity.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is yet to announce its first list of candidates for Karnataka assembly elections, scheduled to be held on May 10, as it is navigating ticket distribution to avoid a “huge rebel problem”, party leaders close to the matter said on Sunday.

Many senior leaders, who command caste-based votes, are also demanding tickets for their nominees, a BJP leader said. (HT)

The opposition Congress has announced candidates, for 166 seats out of the total 224, in two separate lists . Regional party JD(S) hadannounced the first list of 93 candidates in December last year and is likely to announce the second list in the coming days. According to one of the leaders aware of the issue, the party is likely to announce the list on Monday.

The BJP leaders have blamed the “intense” lobbying for certain seats and a fear of large number of rebels cropping up, for the delay. “In at least 50-70 assembly seats, we have more than three aspirants and some of them are very strong locally. We can give ticket to only one and have to ensure that others don’t get upset with ticket distribution. Otherwise, we could have a huge rebel problem,” said a senior party leader aware of the developments, requesting anonymity.

One of the senior party leaders quoted above said that senior state party leaders such as former minister K S Eshwarappa are lobbying hard to get tickets for their children, resulting in concern that “it could dent the BJP’s image against political dynasties.”

In at least 15 constituencies, leaders are seeking tickets for their kin and in another 20 for their close family members, the leader said, on anonymity.

In north Karnataka, party leader Ramesh Jharkiholi, who helped the BJP to topple HD Kumaraswamy led Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress government in 2019, is demanding two tickets for his loyalists, said another party functionary.

Many senior leaders, who command caste-based votes, are also demanding tickets for their nominees, the leader said.

“There is also an issue of denying tickets to non-performing MLAs, which our surveys show will lose. But, they can dampen the prospects of the candidates by contesting as rebels. So attempt is being made to minimise the rebellion,” another party leader said.

The BJP leader quoted above said that the party is also being cautious so as to avoid a dissent. “If we announce the list early, it might lead to disturbance, disgruntlement. We don’t want that,” the leader said, adding, that “the first list will likely be announced on Monday.”

Before leaving for Delhi on Friday, Bommai had said that the tickets will be decided on basis of a survey conducted across the 224 constituencies on March 31. In the extensive survey, local leaders in each assembly constituency were asked to vote for the three best candidates where they were given ballot papers and instructed to mark their preference.

Later, the ballot boxes were brought to Bengaluru and based on the results, the top three names were finalised for each constituency. These names were tallied with an internal survey and the party’s opinion poll. The list has now been taken to Delhi, where the party’s parliamentary board is set to take the final call, said the party leader quoted above.

“With the message that names were collected from every constituency, seniors have discussed (the matter) at the state-level and the district level and depending on the Opposition party, the candidates, distribution of seats to various categories of people...So, we formed a list and that list has been taken to Delhi. Now, the Delhi parliamentary board is discussing the issue,” a party functionary said.

Another reason for the delay in finalising the list is party’s different strategies for different regions. “What works in the Old Mysuru region might not be applicable to other areas such as north Karnataka. We are spending more time on this and hence the delay in announcing the list,” a party functionary pointed out.

Reacting to the delay, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed that senior BJP ministers, including CM Bommai, are keen to change their seats “to negate anti-incumbency.” Responding to Surjewala’s remarks, Karnataka minister K Sudhakar said the delay in announcement is part of BJP’s strategy and asserted that naming a candidate was not important for a “party built on the strong cadre.”