The Bharatiya Janata Party seems to be all set for a rejig of both the State Cabinet and the party unit. Close on the heels of poor performance by the party in the Legislative Council and urban local bodies polls, the high command is keen on “redoing” the party and Government’s image amidst challenges posed by a resurgent Opposition, party sources said.
Speculations are rife in the party that the high command will effect a Cabinet reshuffle to give “dynamism” to the Government. “The high command has been keen on dropping many old faces making room for new and young ones. However, they couldn’t implement this fully when B.S. Yediyurappa was replaced as Chief Minister since they did not want ganging up of seniors to pose a challenge. They will likely do that purge now,” said a senior strategist of the party.
“If not a reshuffle, at least the four vacant slots in the Cabinet will be filled with new young faces who will likely be first-time Ministers,” he added. However, despite the recent clarification by the State executive of the party, speculations of a leadership change refuse to die down.
The change of the State unit chief has been in the pipeline ever since the change of leadership was effected in July 2021 and will likely be made shortly, party sources said. Nalin Kumar Kateel has maintained a low profile and did not actively lead the party’s campaign in either of the recently concluded polls.
Arvind Limbavali, a prominent Scheduled Caste leader, was tipped off to be the State unit chief when he was not inducted into the Ministry in July last year. While he continues to be one of the frontrunners for the post, the name of BJP national general secretary C.T. Ravi, a Vokkaliga leader, is also doing the rounds.
“It is in this context of competition to become the next Vokkaliga face of the party, that probably Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan sought to burnish his credentials by contesting DK brothers on their turf,” a senior Vokkaliga MLA from Bengaluru said.
‘Chintan Baithak’
Meanwhile, the ‘Chintan Baithak’ scheduled to be held at Nandi Hills on January 8-9 and attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah was expected to be the platform for some of these key decisions.
However, the third wave of the pandemic has now forced the party to postpone the event, said N. Ravikumar, general secretary, BJP Karnataka.
“We are yet to reschedule the event. The baithak was to take stock of the political situation in the State in the run up to the Assembly polls,” he said.
