Senior BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje. , Photo Credit: PK Badger
Union minister Shobha Karandlaje has broken away from the pack of Karnataka BJP leaders in the post-Yeddyurappa scenario, a fact made clear by the announcement that she will head the BJP’s election management committee for the Karnataka polls and be a member of the campaign committee. Will also happen. ,
The Election Management Committee is crucial in terms of candidate selection and election strategy, its leadership having a position of trust with respect to the BJP high command. Apart from indicating that the BJP is looking to get its equations right with the Vokkaliga community (to which Ms. Karandlaje belongs and the other major community in Karnataka after the Lingayats), it has also fueled speculation that it may want more of a leadership role. Can play an important role. In the state unit of BJP after the elections.
The double allegation underscored that Ms Karandlaje, 56, who is often identified as a close supporter of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, has made a decisive shift in her own equation with the national leadership in New Delhi.
BJP sources told HinduThe two-time MP from Udupi-Chikmagalur has created her own equations in New Delhi, as was first evident when she was made a minister of state in the second Narendra Modi government, a move that had little to do with Mr Yediyurappa’s Had to give “His appointment as the head of the election management committee, and first as a member of the campaign committee, is an acknowledgment that despite all efforts to woo the Lingayat community, which may be resentful of Yediyurappa’s sacking as chief minister in 2021 Were. The party is keen to balance matters with the Vokkaliga community as well,” said a senior party functionary.
“We are paying the price as any party whose support base is limited to a large influential community, we need a wider base, especially with Yediyurappa retiring after these assembly elections,” the source said.
Sources said that Ms. Karandlaje is a good organizer and popular among party workers, which gradually came to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Gradually changing her view of factional politics, the high command observed that unlike other leaders, she did not shy away from hitting the streets with workers on party work. We (BJP) have some good Vokkaliga leaders and she fits the bill.
While Ms. Karandlaje belongs to south coastal Karnataka and not the Vokkaliga belt of old Mysore (south Karnataka), the BJP is confident that she will be able to mobilize party workers.