Mangalore, March 14: Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa's refusal to campaign for BJP candidate Sunil Kumar in Chikmagalur-Udupi Lok Sabha by-poll has caused jitters in the BJP camp.
The sudden Delhi trip by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, who has refused to campaign for BJP candidate Sunil Kumar in Chikmagalur-Udupi Lok Sabha by-poll has caused jitters in the BJP camp.
Next Sunday's crucial bypoll is expected to be an acid test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The bigger question is whether the BJP will be successful in retaining the seat without the services of Mr. Yeddyurappa, who is regarded as responsible for the party's victory in the 2008 Assembly elections as well as the byelections held so far.
Meanwhile, JD(S) has accused the former chief minister of striking a pact with the Congress to defeat the BJP candidate. “Yeddyurappa is determined to settle political scores with chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda by ensuring the BJP candidate's defeat in the by-poll. Yeddyurappa has been sending a message for Veerashaiva voters in the constituency to vote for Congress candidate Jayaprakash Hegde in the by-poll,” said JD(S) leader Basavaraj Horatti.
Mr. Yeddyurappa's absence from the BJP's campaign is likely to help Congress candidate K. Jayaprakash Hegde, who lost the 2009 general elections to Mr. Gowda, the then BJP State unit president, by a margin of nearly 27,000 votes.
Mr. Yeddyurappa is seeking to convey to the party national leadership that the BJP has been triumphant in the elections thanks to his hard work and without him the electorate's response to the party will be poor.
Should the BJP candidate emerge victorious, then Mr. Yeddyurappa stands to be pushed further away from the party mainstream.
The onus is now on the incumbent Chief Minister and president of the State unit of the BJP K.S. Eshwarappa to prove to the BJP national leadership that despite Mr. Yeddyurappa's boycott, they can comfortably hold aloft the BJP flag.
Interestingly, several Cabinet Ministers, who are closely associated with Mr. Yeddyurappa, are on the campaign trail. There are nearly one lakh Lingayat voters in the constituency, which has an electorate of nearly 12 lakh.
Mr. Yeddyurappa's boycott is expected to push Lingayats to vote for the Congress candidate.
The BJP candidate Mr. Kumar who was earlier a member of the Legislative Assembly elected from the Karkala Assembly segment is stated to be putting up a stiff fight against the Congress candidate but deep divisions within the ruling party is expected to damage his chances.
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