Karnataka - Bangalore

Opinion split in BJP on referendum issue

BANGALORE: Different views have emerged in the Bharatiya Janata Party on whether the bypolls to the seven Assembly seats are a referendum on the Government’s performance.

While Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has said that the bypolls should not be thought of as a referendum on his Government, Home Minister V.S. Acharya holds the opposite view. Both leaders expressed their views on separate platforms on Monday, a day after declaration of dates for the bypolls.

Party State president D.V. Sadananda Gowda had a month ago termed the bypolls a “referendum” on the Government’s performance.

The Chief Minister observed that it would be wrong to say that the Government had done well in the implementation of development works only if it won all the seven seats. At the same time, he expressed full confidence that the party would sweep the bypolls.

Speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of the two-day district-wise interaction meeting with party MLAs in Bangalore, Mr. Yeddyurappa said it was better to hold the bypolls at the earliest as the Government as well as the Opposition could concentrate on development works.

Both Mr. Yeddyurappa and Mr. Sadananda Gowda said the party would announce its list of candidates for the bypolls in two days. He said he would commence preparations for the next State budget from December.

Mr. Yeddyurappa said the meeting with party MLAs had been organised to review the progress of implementation of development works and to get feedback on people’s response to some of the flagship programmes like Janaspandana.

During the interaction, the MLAs expressed satisfaction over the progress of works, but wanted the pace to be faster. A large number of MLAs expressed concern over the long hours of loadshedding. Mr. Yeddyurappa said he had explained to them that such a situation had arisen due to serious power shortage

Mr. Sadananda Gowda ruled out the possibility of the power crisis becoming an issue in the bypolls.

“The BJP is not responsible for this inherited crisis. Hence, the BJP cannot be blamed for this,” he said.

Tourism Minister G. Janardhan Reddy’s reported statement that it was not possible for anybody to prevent Health Minister B. Sriramulu from becoming Chief Minister has raised eyebrows in the party.

But the Chief Minister and the party State president took the remark sportingly.

“If a person like me who was just a municipality member can go on to become Chief Minister, it is very clear that in democracy anybody can grow,” Mr. Yeddyurappa remarked.

Mr. Sadananda Gowda termed Mr. Reddy’s remarks as a “wish.”

“It is the wish of the party that every party worker should go on to occupy the top post,” he remarked.

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