The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made some tough and surprising choices when issuing tickets to candidates in Karnataka with the state elections just around the corner.
The party has chosen candidates without much regard for seniority or prior performance on the basis of their current fame with the public in their individual constituencies.
Former Chief Minister and six-term Member of the Legislative Assembly, Jagadish Shettar were not given a ticket to run in the elections this time. Eshwarappa, a different prior contender for Chief Minister, was also denied a ticket in Karnataka. In the years 2012 and 2013, he served as Karnataka’s sixth deputy chief minister.
In parties like Congress and the Telugu Desam Party, this would be unthinkable. Young leader Sachin Pilot was set aside by Congress in order to satisfy the old Ashok Gehlot’s thirst for power.
Jyotiraditya Scindia, who switched from the Indian National Congress to the BJP in 2020 and is now the Minister of Civil Aviation, was someone even Rahul Gandhi was unable to retain in the party. As a result of this, Congress is currently dealing with a terrible national existential crisis.
A simple example can be of veteran Congressman V Hanumanta Rao, who is still yearning for power in Telangana.
TDP experiences the same thing. Although CBN and Lokesh continue to claim that they only give youthful leaders preference when allocating tickets, this never actually occurs. The old party leaders continue to control the party head.
Other parties may look to the BJP’s choice in assigning tickets for candidates in Karnataka as a blueprint for how to last through the coming generation.
