K'taka: BJP may appoint a Dalit president
July 11, 2012 14:57 IST
Sadananda Gowda resigned as the chief minister of Karnataka on Wednesday and Jagadish Shettar met Governor H R Bhardwaj at Raj Bhavan to stake his claim to form the new government. Shettar will be sworn in as the new Karnataka CM on Thursday. However, the crisis is not yet over for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.
While the path for Shettar has been cleared, the issue of Cabinet expansion is still under discussion. That however is not the BJP's biggest worry. They have managed strike a balance and will give equal representation to both the B S Yeddyurappa faction and the Gowda camp.
They have also done their best to quell the controversy surrounding the deputy CM's chair and in all probability will have two posts. A formal decision to this effect is, however, awaited.
The BJP could take some more time before it could finalise the name of a state president. The post is likely to remain vacant once K S Eshwarappa is made the deputy CM along with R Ashok.
The Gowda camp is firm that that it wants him to be appointed as the next party president. They say that this would keep the faith of the Vokkaliga community. One must not forget that when Gowda was the party president, the BJP had won the elections and formed the government in the state, said a Gowda supporter.
However, Yeddyurappa has opposed Gowda for party president and his loyalists insist that he should be made the chief of the BJP in Karnataka.
Once he is cleared of all charges in the illegal mining case, he should take over as the party president and the next elections should be fought under his leadership only, said Yeddyurappa's followers.
To avoid yet another tussle, the BJP is likely to appoint a Dalit leader as its state president. The BJP is being accused of being pro Lingayat and appointing a Dalit leader appears to be a feasible solution.
Moreover, Yeddyurappa does not consider a Dalit leader as a threat. The worry for the Yeddyurappa faction is that if Gowda is made the president and if he leads the elections next year, he could be seen as the next leader of the state.
Vicky Nanjappa
