The Hindu
Bangalore, Mar 16: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is reportedly planning to revive its “Operation Lotus” in Shimoga, the home district of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and the constituency from where his elder son, B.Y. Raghavendra, is contesting the Lok Sabha election as the party candidate.
Several leaders of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) in the district are expected to join the BJP in the presence of Mr. Yeddyurappa at a function to be held here on Wednesday, according to sources in the BJP.
The leaders include president of the Shimoga District Cooperative Central Bank R.M. Manjunath Gowda, a confidant of S. Bangarappa who is seeking re-election to the Lok Sabha from Shimoga as a Congress candidate.
Mr. Manjunath Gowda’s likely entry into the BJP is being considered as a big blow to the Congress as he is also a force to reckon with in the Vokkaliga community.
Wednesday function is expected to be a show of “political clout” of Mr. Manjunath Gowda. Several Congress leaders including a few members of the Shimoga Zilla Panchayat were also supposed to join the BJP. However, the move has been put off owing to technical reasons, according to the sources.
To remain neutral
It is learnt that Congress member in the zilla panchayat B.R. Jayanth and party leaders in Sagar taluk, including M.G. Krishnamurthy, Haranath Rao and Ili Narayanappa, have reportedly decided to remain “neutral” in the election.
What prompted them to take this decision is the recent “disparaging” remark of Mr. Bangarappa against the Shree Ramachandrapura Math and its seer Raghaveshwara Bharati Swamiji while criticising Mr. Yeddyurappa for “liberally” sanctioning funds for Hindu religious institutions, according to the sources. It is learnt that they are being contacted by BJP leaders to seek support, though indirectly, to Mr. Raghavendra.
Congress members in the zilla panchayat H.C. Basavarajappa and Shantaveer Naik are also being approached by the BJP to seek their support to Mr. Raghavendra, according to the sources. The BJP is also reportedly wooing Janata Dal (S) leaders such as former MLA for Bhadravati M.J. Appaji and zilla panchayat member Sharada Poorya Naik.
Denied
However, presidents of the district Congress committee and the district unit of the Janata Dal (S) R. Prasannakumar and M. Srikanth, respectively, have denied as rumours the reports about their party leaders planning to join the BJP.
Meanwhile, leaders of some communities have justified Mr. Bangarappa’s remarks against the math while claiming that he did not choose Brahmin community for his criticism.