BJP firm on anti-dynasty politics

Bengaluru: With the BJP opposing dynastic politics, giving a ticket to state unit chief B.S. Yeddyurappa’s son to contest the Assembly polls would have “robbed” the party of its ammunition in fighting against it, BJP general secretary Muralidhar Rao said on Friday.

Mr Rao said he was confident that Karnataka would vote in the party’s favour in the May 12 Assembly polls.

Achieving the target of 150 seats in the 224-member assembly would “not be a difficult task”, he told PTI.

Mr Rao said the party was fighting against dynastic politics.

“...It is not that we have not given ticket to anybody (father, son), but giving it to one of the senior leaders and his son or daughter is different, and giving ticket to Yeddyurappa (son) is different,” he said.

He said during one of the party sessions, Yeddyurappa thought it “would rob the BJP of its ammunition in its fight against dynasty politics”.

Mr Rao said the “two plus one” formula has been adopted by chief minister Siddaramaiah, who is contesting from two constituencies Badami and Chamundes-hwari, and his son Yatindra from the Varuna Assembly segment.

“To counter this Yeddyurappa felt this is a small sacrifice. Yeddyurappa’s thinking and BJP's thinking both have converged,” Mr Rao said. In a last minute move before the deadline for filing of nomination papers, Mr Yeddyurappa on April 23 had announced that his son Vijayendra would not contest from Varuna and instead an ordinary party worker would be fielded against Yatindra.

This move had led to a large-scale protest by party workers as Vijayendra was campaigning in Varuna projecting himself as the candidate.