Bengaluru: Who is the CM face of BJP and Congress, which are campaigning for the Assembly elections in Karnataka? They have not yet declared their Chief Ministerial candidate till now. Both parties are reluctant to show the boldness of announcing the CM candidate before the elections. BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Congress under the leadership of former AICC president Rahul Gandhi reached a political situation where these national parties couldn't able to announce a CM candidate for the Assembly elections, which are slated for May.
Generally, Lok Sabha or Assembly elections are fought under the leadership of any leader. Political parties announce the name much before the elections as to who will be the Chief Ministerial candidate before the elections. They strive to get political benefits from it. But, currently, the BJP and Congress are reluctant to name the Chief Ministerial candidate for the Assembly elections.
The BJP in 2008 announced that it would face Assembly elections under Yeddiyurappa's leadership, now it is not yet announced, who will be the Chief Ministerial candidate. It is only indicating that the elections will be fought under collective leadership. BJP's Chanakya Union Minister Amit Shah, once said in a public event that the Assembly elections will be held under the leadership of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, but now he is keeping mum.
There is no clear answer in the BJP itself to the question of whether it will be possible to win more seats and come to power if the Assembly elections are held under the leadership of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. If the BJP comes to power, there are many aspirants to become Chief Ministers. But it seems the BJP does not have a leader, who can lead the party, to bring the party back to power.
Union Minister Prahlad Joshi, BJP National Organising Secretary BL Santhosh, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje, BJP National General Secretary CT Ravi, former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, former CM Yeddyurappa's son BY Vijayendra, Revenue Minister R Ashoka, Higher Education Minister Dr Ashwatthanarayan, Industry Minister Murugesh Nirani, MLA Basanagowda Yatnal, MP Shivkumar Udasi, former Minister Suresh Kumar, Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri and many others are in the race. But, political analysts are of the opinion that the BJP's high command has no confidence that the party will come to power if the elections are held under their leadership.
Also read: Karnataka Assembly Election 2023: BJP's focus on 'Five Bs' to romp back to power
Apart from former CM Yeddyurappa, the BJP has a lack of mass leaders in the state, so the BJP intends to fight the Assembly elections under mass leadership. BJP intends to attract votes in the Assembly elections and bring the party to power by using Prime Minister Modi's name, as he is being a mass leader. Confusion within Congress: The Chief Ministerial candidate confusion in the Congress party is different from that of the BJP. Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC President DK Shivkumar are in the race.
It is being said that there has been stiff competition between them to become the CM. The Congress's high command has failed to resolve the differences between the duo. In the current scenario, the Congress high command is not in a position to oppose either of them.
If the party comes to power under the collective leadership it is decided to select the Chief Ministerial candidate based on the opinion of the MLAs. It is learnt that although former CM Siddaramaiah reportedly exerted pressure on the high command to announce the party's Chief Ministerial candidate before the Assembly elections, KPCC president DK Shivakumar has put the spanner on that.
Along with them, behind the scenes, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council BK Hariprasad, former Ministers HK Patil, MB Patil, RV Deshpande, Shamanur Shivshankarappa, former Union Minister KH Muniyappa, former Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwar and many others aspiring to become Chief Minister and are waiting for the right time.
