K.V. Seetharamaiah
Many new faces have been introduced by BJP while issuing tickets to the candidates to contest in the Lok Sabha election. In every political party, it is usual that the aspirants denied of the tickets revolt and create fuss which would be of little consequence as the noise created by the rebels subsides in due course of time. New faces have to be introduced to pump in fresh blood but with circumspection. There is popular opinion among the people that BJP has been swerving to wrong path in the replacement of old faces with new ones. Two-time MP Prathap Simha has been replaced by the scion of the Mysuru royal familyYaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar. A photo of Yaduveer and his wife casting vote in the Karnataka Assembly election was published in the media. Some people have reportedly taken it in a lighter vein saying “He is also common man, what is there special to show it?” He is not a common man. Moreover, as scion of royal family he has earned very good respects among the people. As a citizen of India, he has every right to take part in politics. No one has been made special by the God. Speciality is earned by the dint of hard work and by being good with the people. In this regard, Yaduveer has not fallen behind. This is not the case for replacement of Pratap Simha by Yaduveer. Pratap Simha has done commendable work during his stint as MP for a decade. There was no reason to deny ticket to him. It is unfortunate that his name was dropped. Former minister K.S. Eshwarappa was unceremoniously sacked from the ministry on a charge of demanding 40 per cent commission from the contractors to pass the bill. But the charges were never proved. Top BJP leaders never came to his rescue. Now he was assured that ticket for Lok Sabha election would be given to his son K.E. Kantesh. But he was not considered. Eshwarappa is staunch loyalist of BJP. Despite not given the ticket to him in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election, he never thought of crossing over to any other party unlike former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar who had defected to Congress. However, he was brought back. Again, he (Shettar) seems to have been cornered. It was not unanticipated that Ananthakumar Hegde would be denied ticket because of his controversial statement on the change of Constitution. Both late Rajiv Gandhi and the former Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had also voiced their opinion in favour of change of Constitution. But their views on Constitution did not make any dent on their political career. Every time Ananthakumar won the election with huge margin of votes. He is a charismatic leader and his winnability is beyond doubt. Former Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai has been given the Lok Sabha ticket but he was not very serious to contest. He had won in the 2023 Assembly election. If he is elected as MP, the MLA seat to be vacated by him needs by poll. There was stiff resistance from the party leaders against fielding Shobha Karandlaje, but she was given the ticket to contest from Bengaluru north. Bhagavanth Khuba also faced with similar situation. He has been given ticket. By the experiments the BJP made in the Karnataka Assembly elections, BJP has burnt its finger. At least, in Karnataka, while issuing tickets to Lok Sabha elections, utmost care should have been exercised by the local leadership and high command. Dissenting leaders denied of tickets may try to play havoc. Damage control exercise is absolutely necessary before anything goes into the point of no return. Opinion polls are predicting that NDA would stage a come back in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. If it happens it is despite, not because, new faces have been introduced. If the opinion poll comes true, it is obvious that the charisma of Modi and other leaders at the top is intact. Even now it is not too late. At least in the remaining number of seats for which tickets have not been announced, tickets may be issued to those who have been dropped for no fault of their own.
