Karnataka BJP bickering over ‘adjustment politics’ with Cong

A “courtesy visit” by DK Shivakumar to Basavaraj Bommai’s house has once again triggered an “adjustment politics” debate in the Bharatiya Janata Party. BJP leader Basangouda Patil Yatnal openly took a jibe at former chief minister Bommai at a programme on Sunday, saying the party won’t survive in the state if its representatives are meeting Congress leaders like Siddaramaiah and DKS and being cordial with them as it will send a wrong message to the people that all senior leaders across party lines are in cahoots.

“We should also say we won’t meet Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, we won’t see their faces or smile at them. Only then our party will survive. If we smile and greet them when they come home, our workers’ morale will fall flat. They will think we all are colluding and have thrown them to the ground. We should be tough,” said Yatnal.

Bommai who was present on stage retorted, reminding Yatnal that meeting leaders of rival parties was part of Karnataka culture and there were other leaders who were actually colluding with leaders of other parties although they don’t meet openly.

“When someone comes to our house, we can’t say no. It’s not Karnataka’s courtesy culture. That doesn’t mean we have compromised. We won’t, don’t worry Gouda. A lot of leaders without going to anyone’s house have compromised. We are against it. It is very clear,” said the former chief minister.

Recently, BJP leaders Pratap Simha and CT Ravi alleged that “adjustment politics” caused the party’s defeat in the recent assembly elections.

Responding to the controversy, Karnataka BJP veteran KS Eshwarappa asked party leaders to not bicker in public and blamed turncoats from the Congress for the indiscipline. “I will speak to the leaders who are giving such statements in public, it’s not a good development. I would like to request them to speak within four walls. There’s a bit of indiscipline in the party. We were disciplined when we were just four members in the party long back, but as the party grew there’s a bit of indiscipline. Because we got a few Congress leaders into our party, we are suffering now and the winds of the Congress have blown here as well. Our high command is not weak, they have let them play for a while, later they will cut their tail when they have to,” said the former minister.

Several BJP leaders have expressed dissatisfaction over Basavaraj Bommai’s government not probing any major corruption charges that the party had levelled against Siddaramaiah’s first tenure as chief minister. They also suspect that in a few constituencies, senior BJP leaders had an understanding with Congress counterparts, leading to the saffron party’s defeat there in the polls.