Disgruntlement and revolt continued to grow within the ranks of the Karnataka BJP after the party sidelined six sitting MLAs in its second list of candidates announced on Wednesday, April 12.
Three-time Mudigere MLA MP Kumaraswamy, who did not get a ticket, said he has “resigned from the BJP" and said that he would submit the formal resignation letter soon. "I am stepping down from the primary membership of the party after being saddened by the developments in the party" Kumaraswamy stated in his resignation letter to the state president Nalin Kumar Kateel.
Kumaraswamy was an aspirant from the reserved constituency for the upcoming state elections, but the BJP party has decided to field Deepak Doddaiah instead. In August 2021, MP Kumaraswamy made headlines when he staged a protest at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru, all by himself, accusing the BJP-led Karnataka government of neglecting his flood-hit constituency of Mudigere.
In November 2022, Kumaraswamy was heckled during a visit to the house of a woman who lost her life in an elephant attack in Hulemane Kundur village located in his constituency. The situation had escalated to the point where police had to resort to lathi charge to quell the attack on the MLA. Additionally, Kumaraswamy was convicted in eight separate cases of cheque dishonor and was ordered to Rs 1.23 crore to the complainant in February.
Nehru Olekar, the MLA of Haveri, who was recently sentenced to two years in jail for diverting government funds to his sons, has vowed to "expose" corruption charges against Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. The two-time MLA staged a protest with his supporters after being overlooked by the party for the upcoming elections. Gavisiddappa Dyamannavar has been chosen to replace him in the Haveri (SC) constituency.
On Thursday, supporters of Munindra Kumar, who was aspiring to contest from the Byatarayanapura constituency, organized a large-scale protest in Sahakarnagar. As a mark of their protest, around 1,350 party workers resigned from the BJP. This protest was a result of the party giving the ticket to Thammesh Gowda instead of Kumar. The supporters claimed that Gowda was an outsider and had not worked with the party workers in the area.
They also expressed their disappointment that he has given a ticket merely because he was a BS Yediyurappa loyalist. Earlier, there was a democratic process and tickets would be given based on survey, but tickets were being given based on one's association with party seniors, a supporter of Munindra said.
On Wednesday, supporters of another aspirant in Byatarayanapura, A Ravi also staged a protest and submitted their resignations. In Byndoor of Udupi district, supporters of Sukumar Shetty, protested the BJP's decision to field Gururaj Gantihole in the coastal town. The party has denied ticket to six incumbent MLAs in the coastal belt covering Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada. In the first list released on Tuesday, tickets were not given to S. Angara (Sullia), Sanjeeva Matandoor (Puttur), Lalaji R Mendon (Kaup), and K Raghupathi Bhat (Udupi).
The BJP has announced candidates in 212 out of the 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka. Sukumar Shetty (Byndoor), Madal Virupakshappa (Channagiri), Prof Linganna (Mayakonda) and C M Nimbannavar (Kalghatgi) have missed out on tickets in the second list.
The BJP is yet to announce a candidate for the Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency represented by former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and Shivamogga constituency represented by former minister KS Eshwarappa.
The upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections are scheduled to take place on May 10, with the results to be declared on May 13. A total of 113 seats are required for any party or alliance to win the majority in the elections.