Daijiworld Media Network – Chikkamagaluru (MS)
Chikkamagaluru, Mar 11: The ‘Go Back’ campaign against Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje has taken a vicious turn. BJP leaders and party workers expressed their unhappiness with the minister at the party office in the city on Sunday. They staged a lightning protest, which embarrassed many party leaders.
A progress convention of scheduled tribe communities was organized at the BJP party office on Sunday. State President of BJP Scheduled Tribe Morcha, Bangaru Hanumanthu, former Minister Araga Jnanendra, election in-charge Bhanuprakash, BJP District President M R Devaraj Shetty, and C T Ravi participated in the meeting.
As the party leaders began speaking, hundreds of party workers raised slogans of ‘Go Back Shobha’ and urged the leaders to pressure the high command not to give the Lok Sabha (LS) election ticket to Shobha Karandlaje. They demanded that the ticket should instead go to C T Ravi for the forthcoming elections.
Despite efforts by C T Ravi, Devaraj Shetty, and other party leaders to pacify the workers, they did not adhere to their instructions. Chaos ensued, and at one point, a war of words broke out between the leaders and the party workers.
Subsequently, the party workers staged a protest in front of the BJP office and continued sloganeering against Shobha.
Speaking to reporters, the disgruntled party workers expressed their grievances, stating, “We have ensured Shobha Karandlaje's victory from the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency twice. However, she fails to address the concerns of party workers once elected. She bears responsibility for the BJP candidates' defeat in the five legislative assembly constituencies of the district. Additionally, she refrained from campaigning for the party candidates. If the party high command insists on giving her the ticket, her defeat is inevitable. District leaders and party workers are dissatisfied with her. They will abstain from participating in election campaigning. The ticket should be allocated to anyone but Shobha. It should be given to C T Ravi, who tirelessly dedicates himself to the party.
"The fact that B S Yediyurappa has announced in every nook and corner of the street that the Lok Sabha ticket will be given to Shobha is concerning. It is not appropriate for Yediyurappa to declare Shobha as the party candidate even before the high command has officially announced the candidate," said the party workers.
The situation only calmed down after the leaders assured the party workers that they would bring the matter to the attention of national-level leaders.
From the outset of the Lok Sabha elections, BJP party workers had been expressing opposition towards the current MP and Union Minister. They initiated a letter campaign and launched a "Go back Shobha" campaign on social media platforms. However, tensions escalated further after Yediyurappa declared Shobha as the official candidate of the party during his recent visit to Chikkamagaluru. This development only fuelled the agitation among the workers.
It is evident that the ‘Go back’ campaign against Shobha is the brainchild of BJP party workers themselves, as demonstrated by their activities held at the party office on Sunday.
Former minister C T Ravi expressed his discontent over the protest held by party workers at the party office on Sunday. He stated, "While the party has provided an opportunity for party workers to express their feelings, it is not appropriate to conduct public protests like this." Ravi emphasized that the primary objective is to ensure the re-election of Prime Minister Modi. He stressed the importance of BJP's victory nationwide for Modi to continue as Prime Minister. Ravi reiterated that candidate selection is within the purview of the party, with the high command granting tickets to eligible candidates based on the input from party workers and surveys.