BJP to rally back party leaders

With the state gearing up for the assembly elections scheduled sometime this year, the political parties in the district have also started consolidating their cadre at the grass-root level.

The process of prominent persons changing their loyalty or resorting to 'home-coming' has begun.

The BJP will be the first party in the district to formally welcome the new entrants and those returning home. A function 'Jana Jagruti Samavesha' will be organised at Hubli on Friday where former MP Vijay Sankeshwar and hundreds of other leaders and workers will join BJP. Former chief minister B S Yedyurappa, state president D V Sadanand Gowda, BJP leaders Ananth Kumar and others will be present.

Vijay Sankeshwar, who had been elected member of Parliament from Dharwad North as a BJP nominee thrice, had left the party prior to 2004 elections and had launched his own Kannada Nadu party.

He had also contested assembly elections from Hubli in 2004 but lost. After his party failed to make any mark at the husting he had joined Janata Dal(S). Sankeshwar decided to quit Janata Dal(S) after it failed to transfer power to the BJP last October.

Most of the political aspirants who had identified with Janata Dal (S) are joining BJP on Friday.

BJP had managed to get solid support from the voters at the Parliament elections in both urban and rural areas in the district but when it came to the assembly seats the voters in the rural areas were divided.

Now the party is riding on the sympathy wave wants to consolidate its support for assembly positions also. It is trying to woo prominent leaders in Dharwad rural districts and also making efforts to iron out differences among the cadre.

While BJP candidates had won assembly seats at Hubli Rural, Kalaghatagi and Navalgund in the district, Congress had bagged Dharwad city and Hubli city. Janata Dal (U) candidate had won from Kundagol.

Vinay Kulkarni who had won as an independent from Dharwad Rural had later joined Congress.

Now, M S Akki, who had represented Kundagol as Janata Dal (U) nominee in the dissolved assembly is expected to join BJP on the condition that the party would give him ticket to contest from the constituency.

Shivanand Ambadagatti who had represented Dharwad Rural from 1999-2004 as Congress nominee had switched over to Janata Dal (S) after being defeated by Vinay Kulkarni in the 2004 elections. Vinay, who was an aspirant for the Congress ticket had rebelled after being denied the Congress ticket and had contested as an independent.

Two other prominent leaders in Dharwad Rural assembly constituency A B Desai and Shivanand Holehadagali had also joined Janata Dal(S). Now all these three - Ambadagatti, A B Desai and Shivanand Holehadagali are likely to join BJP. A B Desai had represented Dharwad Rural as Janata Dal candidate earlier.

However, Vinay Kulkarni denied reports that he was joining BJP. Speaking to Business Standard on Thursday, he said he would seek Congress ticket to contest assembly elections from Dharwad Rural, Dharwad City or Navalgund constituency. "If the Congress denies me ticket I will contest as an Independent from any of these three constituencies. There is no question of me joining BJP" he asserted.

Large number of people from villages in Dharwad district are set to join BJP formally on Friday in the presence of party leaders.

BJP though has large number of supporters in rural part of the district, particularly in Dharwad taluk, it had failed to convert the support into votes. It now seems to have learnt lessons and has set out to groom local leadership and strengthen the organisation.

Meanwhile, the party is also trying to iron out the differences that have cropped up among the leaders in the district. The party in the district divided into two groups "" one supporting Yedyurappa and another owing allegiance to Ananth Kumar.

While former MLAs Chandrakant Bellad, Ashok Katwe, R B Shiriyannavar, former CADA chairman C M Nimbannavar and former party state unit treasurer Rajendra Gokhale are known to be supporters of Yeddyurappa former minister Jagadeesh Shettar and MP Prahlad Joshi are considered to be loyal to Ananth Kumar.

The party known for discipline came in poor light after there was scuffle between the members of the two groups at a meeting at Hubli recently. The Friday's 'Jagruti Samevesha' is expected to create 'Jagruti' (enlighten) among the party cadres about the dangers of being divided on the eve of elections.