Kharge instigating fight between CM, Dy CM: BJP

BENGALURUEven as the BJP weighs possible organisational changes in mysore and discussions persist in o'er the company’s tell leadership, BJP national general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Radha Mohan Das Agrawal on Thursday turned his attention to the Congress, accusing party president Mallikarjun Kharge of waiting for a confrontation between chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar in the hope of emerging as a compromise candidate for the top post.Speaking at the BJP state headquarters, Jagannath Bhavan, Agrawal referred to the continuing discussions within the Karnataka Congress over leadership-sharing arrangements as the government completes three years in office.“Kharge is instigating a fight between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar like two cats, while acting like a monkey in Delhi,” Agrawal said. “Kharge is waiting for them to fight so he gets a chance to become chief minister. There aren’t two faces for CM here. There are three people.”The remarks came amid persistent speculation within the Congress over whether Shivakumar would replace Siddaramaiah later in the government’s term under an alleged power-sharing understanding reached after the party’s 2023 Assembly victory. Supporters of Shivakumar have publicly argued that he should be made chief minister for the remainder of the term.Agrawal said the Congress government was weakened by internal divisions and alleged that legislators from the ruling party were in contact with the BJP. “Several Congress MLAs are in touch with us,” he said. “Even if Assembly elections are held tomorrow, people will defeat Congress and give BJP a chance to form the government.”He also accused the state government of pushing Karnataka into financial difficulty through borrowing and claimed governance had suffered because of factional disputes. “For the last six to seven months, there has been no government here. They are fighting among themselves,” he said.Agrawal further alleged that the Congress administration had failed to implement its welfare guarantees effectively. “There is a failed, corrupt government in the state. It is an appeasement-based government. It has cheated the people of Karnataka. Even the guarantees have not been implemented properly,” he said.His comments came a day after the BJP held an organisational meeting in Bengaluru under the leadership of party national vice-president Baijayant Panda. The meeting focused on strengthening the party structure and expanding the reach of welfare schemes introduced by the Union government.The developments have also intensified discussion within Karnataka BJP circles over possible organisational changes expected after May 25, although party sources indicated that state BJP president BY Vijayendra was likely to continue in the post.Agrawal dismissed suggestions that Vijayendra’s performance was under review. “Whether he continues as president or not will not be decided in a meeting here,” he said. “It is wrong to assume that the president’s assessment is being done here.”“Assessment in our party is continuous. We don’t need to come here to know what any BJP leader is doing,” he added. “I am not the president’s worker; I am a BJP worker. I can speak on everything.”On the process of choosing party office-bearers, Agrawal said leadership appointments in the BJP did not follow a rigid schedule. “Presidentship is not a job where forms are filled on the 3rd, interviews held on the 5th, and names declared on the 7th with a fixed salary,” he said.“We have a strong president now. We fought the Lok Sabha elections under his leadership. We will face the Assembly elections under whoever is the president,” he added.Agrawal also said changes in party leadership would naturally bring some restructuring in the organisation. “When a new president is finally announced, a new team will naturally be formed in place of the old one,” he said. “The core committee does not change with a new president. That is decided by the national unit. One or two old members may be replaced with new ones.”Recent political developments within the BJP have strengthened Vijayendra’s position in the state unit. Party leaders and observers viewed the large turnout at the “Abhimanotsava” event in Chitradurga, organised to mark 50 years of public life of veteran BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa, as a demonstration of influence by Yediyurappa and his supporters.