Yogeshwar’s resignation causes stress on NDA alliance

The resignation of BJP MLC C.P. Yogeshwar from his Council position and announcement of contesting possibly as an Independent in the Channapatna bypolls has come as a twist to the poll plot. More importantly, it has caused stress on the NDA alliance in Karnataka in which the Janata Dal (Secular) is a partner. The JD(S) seems to be on the backfoot in the developing situation.

The resignation of BJP MLC C.P. Yogeshwar from his Council position and announcement of contesting possibly as an Independent in the Channapatna bypolls has come as a twist to the poll plot. More importantly, it has caused stress on the NDA alliance in Karnataka in which the Janata Dal (Secular) is a partner. The JD(S) seems to be on the backfoot in the developing situation.

With Mr. Yogeshwar sending signals to Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy, whose resignation from Channapatna has necessitated the bypolls, asking him to consider his candidacy, he has put the ball in the JD(S) court.

If what eventually merges is a triangular fight in Channapatna, with Mr. Yogeshwar in fray as an Independent, the situation is expected to favour the Congress. A direct fight involving Mr. Yogeshwar as a BJP candidate opposite a Congress candidate would, local JD(S) leaders feared, lead to erosion of the party’s base. This is believed to have prompted the JD(S) leaders to have offered the seat to the five-time former legislator from their party. 

The strain on the alliance over the seat has been there for sometime, but it came to the fore on Sunday night when Mr. Kumaraswamy accused some BJP leaders of attempting to drive a wedge in the alliance with the help of the Congress. He indicated that some BJP leaders were working against the alliance.

The JD(S) party sources said that certain State-level Vokkaliga leaders were to be blamed for the current situation, though in meetings between the two parties, they had batted for JD(S) to choose the candidate. Though Mr. Yogeshwar had been offered seat to contest on JD(S) ticket after the intervention of BJP president J.P. Nadda, he has so far refused to consider it, they said. Party sources claimed Mr. Yogeshwar had refused to contest on JD(S) ticket hoping to keep his Muslim and backward classes voters in good faith. However, the JD(S) local leadership is against allowing Mr. Yogeshwar to contest on BJP ticket. Former Chief Minister and BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa has also said that the Channapatna seat is for the JD(S).

On Monday, while Nikhil Kumaraswamy told presspersons that the JD(S) had offered the seat, former Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwathnarayan came in support of Mr. Yogeshwar’s attempt to contest on BJP ticket. While the development seems to have taken the JD(S) by surprise, it did not come entirely unexpected, the JD(S) sources said.

Soon after Mr. Yogeshwar resigned in Hubballi, Mr. Nikhil met his grandfather and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Mr. Kumaraswamy to discuss the developing situation. Party workers in Channapatna would be consulted on Tuesday before announcing the decision.