Daijworld Media Network - Karkala (MB)
from political correspondent reporting from Karkala

Karkala, Oct 21: Prominent leader of the Gowd Saraswat Brahmin community and district BJP general secretary K P Shenoy, being annoyed with the state of affairs in the party in the recent past, had formed a citizens' forum prior to the recent local body elections. Although the forum did not taste much success in the polls, the purpose had been served. The BJP faced severe reverses and Congress benefited from the split of votes.

It was indeed a loss of face for local MLA Sunil Kumar, who had staked his personal prestige in the elections. Naturally he is furious over Shenoy's banner of rebellion. Sunil Kumar and others are understood to have urged the district BJP leaders to have Shenoy expelled from the party permanently for his anti-party activities, more so while holding the post of the district secretary. Party sources told Daijiworld's political correspondent that if it was anyone other than Shenoy, the expulsion would have been a long-decided affair. Here the hitch is the traditional support from the numerically, economically and strategically strong GSB community that the BJP has been enjoying from its Bharatiya Jan Sangh format days, said a community member.

Any hurried action against Shenoy might invite a strong backlash from the community, fear the district leaders. Therefore, they are said to have passed the buck by firmly telling the anti-Shenoy complainants that they had no authority to take action against a district office-holder, but only a state unit can take a disciplinary step.

By doing so, they have not only bought time to pursue efforts to win K P Shenoy over, back into the BJP fold. But Shenoy's supporters have clearly said that the breach was complete. Shenoy has already declared that the sphere of action of the citizens' forum would be extended from the town level to the taluk level. This is an outright hint that it had all intentions of fielding its own candidate in the next assembly election from Karkala, which could happen anytime within the next six months, given the political instability at the state level.

Victory or no victory, if the citizens' forum fields a candidate, Sunil Kumar would be in trouble. No doubt, he has endeared himself to the people with some developmental works. But Shenoy could spoil his chances with the forum's candidate. Congress could benefit if the GSB votes are split or if they abstain from voting in large number, in protest against the unfair treatment meted out to Shenoy over the past few years, after Sunil Kumar began dominating in the party circles.

It is a no-win situation. If no action is taken, the party image would suffer. If action comes through, a major vote-bank could be split. Hence some of the local leaders are prevailing upon the state leaders to tread with caution and patience on this issue, said a district BJP leader on condition of anonymity.