Arun Jaitley to finalise BJP candidates

Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley, in-charge of the Karnataka elections, will arrive in the city on May 29 to finalise the list of candidates for the state assembly polls expected to be held in May.

The state BJP leaders held a meeting on Thursday to shortlist the candidates since the number of aspirants has already crossed the 2,000 mark. "It has become a difficult task to bring it down to 225. We are still working on the list," former minister and senior state BJP leader R Ashok said after the meeting.

The BJP is strong in the North Karnataka region where it has a large following among the Lingayats (largest community in Karnataka). The BJP's top leadership is dominated by Lingayats.

However, it is yet to achieve the same popularity in south

Karnataka districts (Vokkaliga belt). In an effort to consolidate its position in the south Karnataka districts, the BJP is wooing Janata Dal (Secular) leaders.

The party was successful in roping in prominent JD(S) leaders B N Bacche Gowda and G T Deve Gowda. Both have served as ministers and were close confidantes of JD (S) supremo H D Deve Gowda. Besides, both are Vokkaliga leaders hailing from South Karnataka.

The BJP leaders said more JD(S) leaders, including five former ministers, would join the party once the polling dates were announced. The party is still riding the sympathy wave after JD(S) dumped the one week-old BJP government led by B S Yeddyurappa last year.

"People know very well that the JD(S) did little to put the state on the path of development. In the last assembly polls, we emerged as the single largest party. We are confident of securing absolute majority in this election since voters are favouring us," Ashok contended.

He said people were looking forward to BJP administration in the state. "The voters have seen both JD(S) and Congress reducing the administration in the state to a pathetic level. They are keen on giving us a chance," he added.

Ashok said the Congress was unlikely to pose a strong challenge to the BJP in the election. "The Congress has become a house of factions. Look at the leaders and their followers. There is no collective effort. Every Congress leader is eyeing the chief minister's post. If this is the attitude, how can the party even secure a majority," he wondered.

However, not all is well with the BJP, which has its own share of factionalism. Yeddyurappa and BJP national general secretary H N Ananth Kumar do not see eye-to-eye. So far, Yeddyurappa has managed to keep Ananth Kumar out of the state issues of the party.

There are indications of Ananth Kumar being thrust with a major responsibility since the party is keen on capturing power. It wants all state BJP leaders to focus on the elections. The move to bring Ananth Kumar back into state politics has created unrest in the Yeddyurappa camp. Jaitley, during his visit to Bangalore, is expected to convince Yeddyurappa on Ananth Kumar's expected return to state politics.