As meetings in Bengaluru to choose the next chief minister drags on, one thing is certain that Bharatiya Janata Party national general secretary Ananth Kumar is out of the race for now.
Sources in the BJP say that 78 member of legislative assembly have rejected his candidature, which has made the high command turn towards Rural Development and Panchayath Raj Minister Jagadish Shettar. However, Sadanand Gowda appears to be emerging as the clear choice of majority of MLAs.
Outgoing Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has been extremely vocal during his meeting with the senior BJP leaders. He and his supporters told the national leaders that if Ananth Kumar is selected not only will there be a revolt, but the entire Nira Radia issue will also come back to bite the BJP.
The high command appears to have taken this warning seriously and they fear being sidelined by the Congress in Parliament when they raise the 2G issue. Sources further said that the candidature of Ananth Kumar was backed by senior BJP leader L K Advani, but the state BJP leaders are in no mood to heed to that command.
During the long consultation process, the high command proposed the name of Ananth Kumar, while the Yeddyurappa faction stuck to Sadananda Gowda. When the national leaders realised that there was no chance of brining in Ananth Kumar, they sought the opinion of each and every MLA. However to their dismay, 78 MLAs rejected his candidature, according to sources.
The Ananth Kumar faction was, however, quick to make a change and pushed for Jagadish Shettar, who again is seen as Ananth Kumar's man in the BJP. However, the Yeddyurappa faction stuck to Gowda and said that there would be no compromise on this.
BJP national leaders argued that Gowda is a member of Parliament and when there are 121 MLAs in Karnataka why bring in someone who is more active in New Delhi. They said it would be better to go ahead with Shettar, who is a member of the legislative assembly.
However, this argument was countered by the Yeddyurappa group who said that if it were so why was Ananth Kumar considered for the post as he too is a member of Parliament and not an MLA.
It would now all boil down to the numbers and the lead is clearly in favour of Gowda. Shettar has mustered the support of around 35 to 40 MLAs, while a majority, around 78, is backing Gowda.
National leaders, Arun Jaitley and Rajnath Singh, who were supposed to leave for New Delhi on Sunday night have for now cancelled their programme. Discussions may go on late into the night. There is a possibility of them announcing the leader and then leaving for Delhi. However, they might just leave for New Delhi on the pretext that they would need to consult with senior leaders before coming to a final decision.
