Sadananda Gowda may have received an invitation to contest on a Congress ticket in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, but the former BJP chief minister is in no mood to shift allegiance, say sources close to the leader.
Gowda, who is the outgoing MP from Bangalore North Lok Sabha seat, has been upset at being dropped this time. Shobha Karandlaje, the Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare and Ministry of Food Processing Industries, has been named as the candidate from the constituency instead.
Gowda had earlier announced his retirement from electoral politics, but did a U-turn citing pressure from his followers to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
BJP insiders told News18 that Gowda may be appeased by the party high command with an offer to contest from the Chikkaballapur seat which is presently represented by 82-year-old BN Bache Gowda. Bache Gowda had announced he would not be contesting any more elections, paving the way for the BJP to field a fresh candidate in his place.
A BJP functionary, who has been working closely with Gowda, said that the former Union minister’s support would ultimately be for Narendra Modi and the BJP, and that he will not shift allegiance to the Congress on a whim or for a ticket.
The Karnataka BJP has been facing internal turmoil with many senior leaders expressing their dissent over the candidates who have been given tickets “at the cost of dropping senior winnable candidates”.
BJP leader and former minister JC Madhuswamy is also upset with the BJP leadership and has been sulking after his loss in the 2023 Assembly elections. The four-time MLA from Chikkanayakanahalli blamed the BJP local leaders for his loss and is now contemplating jumping ship to the Congress. Formerly with the JD-S, Madhuswamy first shifted to the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP), the splinter party floated by BS Yediyurappa in 2012. When BSY merged KJP with the BJP, Madhuswamy also joined the saffron party.
After another senior BJP leader, former deputy chief minister KS Eswarappa, recently raised the flag of protest against the BJP’s ticket distribution and even refused to participate in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public rally in Shimoga, the region Eswarappa has contested from and won several times as an MLA.
Sadananda Gowda also expressed his disappointment when his name was dropped and rumors mills ran abuzz that the former chief minister would shift to the Congress.
“That is not true,” said a BJP leader close to Gowda. “Sadananda Gowda does not spit on the plate he eats from. He is a loyal BJP soldier and will take decisions at an appropriate time,” the leader said.
When contacted, Gowda said that he did not want to make any comments but would reveal his plan of action in a press conference on Wednesday.
Congress state chief and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar is said to be in touch with Gowda and the party is said to have offered him the Mysuru or Chikkaballapura seats, but Gowda has not responded yet. Gowda belongs to the influential Vokkaliga community, the second largest community in the state.
Earlier, Gowda had told the media that it was true that he had been contacted by senior leaders from “other political parties”, adding that he wanted to consult his family before deciding his future course of action.
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