Despite pressure from a segment of the party, the BJP will not publicly announce that a Lingayat will be the party’s chief executive officer in order to preserve the support of the dominant Lingayat community in Karnataka ahead of the Assembly elections. This occurs after a few notable BJP leaders defected to the Congress.
Although roughly 25 to 30 Lingayat leaders in the BJP met last week under the direction of former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and decided to put pressure on the central leadership of the party to declare that a Lingayat will be the BJP’s choice for CM, the central leadership had instead decided not to make an unequivocal declaration on the CM candidate, according to sources in the party.
Under the direction of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP has been concentrating on efforts to salvage its prospects in areas with a sizable Lingayat voter population over the previous five to six days. BJP insiders claim that the party has suggested it will not be appropriate to state that a CM will only be elected from a particular group.
A BJP senior added, “It will be counterproductive to say that a Lingayat will be the CM from the BJP.” “The non-Lingayats will ultimately vote for other candidates. For instance, the Vokkaligas will ultimately vote for the JD(S), even though they are not affiliated with it, or even for the Congress if they think D K Shivakumar is a better candidate.
Arun Singh, the BJP’s national secretary and Karnataka in-charge, has stated that the community from which a CM will be picked is a “well-known truth” even though the party hasn’t made it clear that a Lingayat will be the CM if it wins back power.