Former Housing and Muzrai Minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader V Somanna is reportedly very miffed – sources claim he may not get a ticket from Hannur constituency in the Karnataka Assembly polls scheduled for May – and this may lead to a tricky situation within the party.
Yeddyurappa had, on April 1, held a private meeting with Somanna, Parimala Nagappa and her son Preetam Nagappa at his residence in Dollars Colony. Somanna was allegedly told that he would not get a ticket to contest from Hanur constituency in Chamarajanagar district, and the ticket would instead be given to Preetam.
Angered by this, Somanna announced that Yeddyurappa had no power to deny him a ticket and that Union Minister Ananth Kumar would decide who should get the ticket.
“If Somanna is very close to Ananth Kumar, if he manages to get Ananth Kumar to give him the ticket, then there will be major differences between Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar,” a BJP leader close to former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa said.
Why is Somanna being denied the ticket?
Somanna is known to be a shrewd politician whose every move is calculated with precision. He was seen as a Yeddyurappa loyalist when the latter was Chief Minister. Later, when the Reddy brothers mining scam blew up and Yeddyurappa was asked to step down, he formed his own party, the Karnataka Janata Paksha.
At that time, he asked Somanna to join the party; however, he refused and stayed on with the BJP.
“Yeddyurappa has not forgiven Somanna for the betrayal. Now that the tables turned, Yeddyurappa took the opportunity to inconvenience Somanna. That is not the only reason though. It was all the things Somanna did to undermine Yeddyurappa’s power, which has made him angry,” the source added.
According to BJP insiders, during the BJP’s Parivarthana Yatra in Hanur in January this year, Somanna asked party workers to refrain from attending the rally, resulting in a low turnout. Sources say that this angered Yeddyurappa.
“Somanna’s goal was to make it look like Parimala and Preetam Nagappa did not have enough support if he got party workers to not attend (the rally). This has backfired and Somanna is now in a position where he is being refused the ticket. Besides, he has three more years to serve out his MLC term,” the source added.
Why is Ananth Kumar being dragged into this issue?
In 2012, when Yeddyurappa stepped down as the CM and spent some time in jail, Somanna began rubbing shoulders with national-level leaders. He soon became a confidante of Ananth Kumar, BJP insiders say.
It was during the General Elections in 2014 that Somanna and Ananth Kumar’s friendship blossomed. Sources say that even though Ananth Kumar’s CM aspirations did not come to fruition, it was Somanna who got constituents in Vijayanagar and Govindarajanagar areas to vote for him when he contested for the Bengaluru South seat.
BJP insiders say that Somanna and Ananth Kumar got along because of one common adversary – Yeddyurappa.
“Although Ananth Kumar is not a mass leader like Yeddyurappa, the reason for this is because the high command demanded his attention in New Delhi. Ananth Kumar had a major aspiration of being the CM of Karnataka someday and that was quashed by Yeddyurappa, who rose in the party ranks, while he was sidelined in state-level politics,” sources say.
Now, Somanna is banking on his good relationship with Ananth Kumar to win a ticket. However, if this happens, it will resulting in a “massive fight between Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar”, the BJP source added.