The BJP is yet to officially name a successor to Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa following his sudden resignation on Monday. Amid speculations about the party’s shortlist for the next CM, Union Minister Prahlad Joshi’s name has fanned the possibility of Karnataka having a Brahmin leader.
Joshi, who has been the MP of Dharwad since 2004, however, said that no one has spoken to him about the change. “There is no high command in the BJP but national leadership. We got different leaderships from time to time. There was Rajnath Singh, after which Nitin Gadkari came, who was succeeded by Amit Shah and now J P Nadda is there. In the present situation, we have supreme leaders in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. They will decide.”
Joshi maintains good rapport with other party leaders in Hubballi-Dharwad and Karnataka as well. Another frontrunner is CT Ravi, a Vokkaliga, whose appointment might help with the party’s reach in southern Karnataka.
While there’s a murmur that replacing Yediyurappa with another Lingayat would be fitting, the possibility seems narrow.
The BJP is also said to have shortlisted Dharwad West MLA Aravind Bellad, Vijayapura MLA Basannagouda Patil Yatnal, Karnataka Mines and Geology Minister Murgesh R Nirani and State Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
According to reports, Yediyurappa is likely to recommend Bommai if asked to suggest a name.
BL Santosh, CN Ashwath Narayan, Laxman Savadi, Govind Karjol, Visveshwara Hegde Kageri are reportedly also under consideration.
Meanwhile, several seers of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community on Friday decided to organise religious heads convention on July 25 in what is seen as sending out a loud and clear message to BJP party high command not to remove Yediyurappa.
Mines and Geology Minister Nirani said that there has been no instruction from party high command about Yediyurappa’s removal. “He is still our leader and we all are with him,” he said.
Dalit candidates also in cards
Karnataka Fisheries Minister S Angara, a BJP MLA from the Scheduled Caste community, is also touted to be a frontrunner for the post of CM. According to an Indian Express report, the leader who is known as a “loyal worker” of the BJP and the RSS, has emerged as another possible candidate among others such as Joshi and Ravi. Angara, who only recently was given a ministry, is said to have a stronghold in coastal Karnataka region and has been elected as the MLA from the reserved Sullia constituency six times.
If elected, he will likely be the first Dalit CM of Karnataka.
Apart from Angara, chances are that Govind Kajrol, Deputy CM from the Yediyurappa cabinet, might also be another Dalit frontrunner. On Tuesday evening, a few senior MLAs were seen gathering around Karjol when he arrived at the Kumara Krupa guest house in Bengaluru to meet BJP’s Karnataka in-charge Arun Singh and central observers Dharmendra Pradhan and Kishan Reddy.
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