A group of 12 “disgruntled” BJP leaders have decided to march against the alleged embezzlement of funds in a state-run welfare fund for Scheduled Tribes, deviating from the party line and marking a show of strength against the party leadership and the family of B.S. Yediyurappa that controls the Karnataka unit.
The state BJP had officially held an eight-day march from Bengaluru to Mysuru demanding the resignation of chief minister Siddaramaiah in an alleged land scam with the CM’s wife as one of the beneficiaries. The rebel BJP leaders, who met on Sunday at Belagavi, had, however, stayed away from it.
The group led by Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, Vijayapura MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal, former minister Aravind Limbavalli, former Lok Sabha member Pratap Simha, who was denied a ticket for the parliamentary polls, G.M. Siddeshwar, B.P. Harish, Annasaheb Jolle and N.R. Santosh, who was once a close aide of state party president B.Y. Vijayendra, were among those who were at the Sunday huddle.
The meeting was intended not only to pressure the Congress government over the alleged ₹89 crore embezzlement from the Maharishi Valmiki Scheduled Development Corporation but also to criticise Vijayendra and his father, Yediyurappa, who have recently faced accusations of a dictatorial style of leadership.
A party source close to the rebels said they decided to approach the BJP national leadership against Vijayendra and his father.
Limbavalli told reporters that the meeting was not about any one leader. “It was about the setbacks in the recent elections (Assembly and Lok Sabha) and organisational matters,” said the leader close to the RSS who had already voiced his concerns at the party’s “failure” in its role as the Opposition.
The meeting, which lasted for more than four hours, was held at a hotel at the Belagavi-Goa border and it was decided that the BJP rebels would launch their march against the Siddaramaiah government on September 17. They also decided to involve senior national leaders in the march to enhance the credibility of their group.
