KS Eshwarappa has been venting his dissatisfaction with his party's decision to choose BS Yeddyurappa as the BJP state president.
A decade ago, Karnataka's current chief minister, Siddaramaiah, rebelled against the JDS and organised the ‘A.hin.da.’ (Alpa sankhyat (minorities), Hindulida varga (backward classes) Dalit) movement before joining the Congress.
Today KS Eshwarappa, rebel BJP leader, is treading on the same path. He has organised a group called the ‘Sangolli Rayanna Brigade’ comprising Dalits and members of the backward classes. Of course, so far he has not expressed any intention to leave the party.
But yesterday he brought together a huge public convention of minorities and backward classes at the Secretariat Club in Cubbon Park.
Surprisingly Mudukappa, Puttaswamy (retired IAS officer), Sangram Singh (retired police officer) and others who backed Siddaramaiah during the ‘A.hin.da’ movement are now supporting Eshwarappa. Besides, many BJP leaders and many organisations working for the welfare of minorities and backward classes attended the convention.
Eshwarappa has been expressing dissent against his party's choice of Yeddyurappa as state president for quite some time. Some BJP leaders say that the convention was meant to be a kind of political blackmail tactic by Eshwarappa.
In the meeting, KS Eshwarappa did not say what his intention exactly was. However, he sarcastically said that now the baby has been delivered and within a few days it will start toddling. He hinted that he will continue to organise such conventions in the future.
It is said that he will now conduct district-level conventions and by December he’ll cover all the districts of Karnataka. Then, he will reportedly hold a wrap-up convention in Bengaluru.
Sangolli Rayanna was freedom fighter and a Kuruba by caste. However, Eshwarappa said that this convention was not limited to Kuruba community, that Rayanna is an icon in Karnataka and is not restrained to one particular community. “The Sangolli Rayanna Brigade will work for the welfare of backward classes and try to create awareness among backward classes and Dalits,” he reiterated.
Political analysts say that Eshwarappa is going to accomplish many of intentions through this campaign:
- Currently Siddaramaiah is No.1 leader for backward classes, particularly among the Kurubas. After the end of Siddaramaiah’s regime, Eshwarappa may present himself as the next leader for backward classes and Dalits.
- Through this campaign, he is sending a message to Yeddyurappa that he cannot be neglected as he is going to rise as a mass leader.
- Previously, three leaders of BJP had become chief ministers (Yeddyurappa, Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar) and none of them represented backward castes. Now by organising this campaign, Eshwarappa is creating a situation to put forward a demand to the BJP high command to consider him as the representative of backward classes and Dalits.
