The BJP’s pivot in Karnataka is away from some veterans who won't pipe down

Once thick friends, KS Eshwarappa and DV Sadananda Gowda's paths diverged. Now the two find themselves on the same side again – out of favour

Two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veterans in Karnataka, one, former chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda, and the other, KS Eshwarappa, a former deputy chief minister, were once known as problem-solvers who headed the party's state unit during difficult times. Now, they’ve both staged a rebellion.

KS Eshwarappa, a former deputy chief minister (left) and former chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda

Gowda, the sitting MP from Bengaluru North was denied a ticket to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls (Union minister Shobha Karandlaje was given the ticket from that seat), and Eshwarappa, hopeful that the party would give the Haveri Lok Sabha ticket to his son, K E Kantesh, was also disappointed after the party announced that Basavaraj Bommai, another former CM, would contest from that seat instead.

Their rebellion and outbursts have flummoxed the party's central leadership, which already has its hands full with disappointed aspirants who did not receive tickets. Eshwarappa announced he will contest as an Independent from Shivamogga, represented by BY Raghavendra, the son of former CM BS Yediyurappa, who was renominated by the party from that seat.

Gowda, who was scheduled to share his next political move with the media on Wednesday, postponed the meeting. It is learnt the RSS has reached out to placate him, while the Congress has sent an invite to him.

Sandeep Shastri, director-Academics, Nitte Education Trust, attributed the rebellion to what has been happening in the BJP across the country: a shift of the old guard towards a new line of leadership. In Karnataka, Yediyurappa's other son BY Vijayendra, was appointed state unit president, as much a symptom of this shift as it is of how certain families retain power in politics. “It now appears that Yediyurappa is playing a major role in the party's functioning and there is resistance to this by people like Eshwarappa and Gowda, who are the old guard,” he added.

Like all political parties, BJP claims to be a party with a difference and also has camps. In ticket distribution, Yediyurappa ensured his supporters got tickets, while BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh was not able to get tickets for either Eshwarappa's son or Dakshina Kannada sitting MP Nalin Kumar Kateel.

“If the BJP makes Prime Minister Narendra Modi the focus in these elections, the rebellion created by these seniors could get pushed to the background. It also depends on how Congress crafts its strategy to take advantage of this,” Shastri added.

Eshwarappa, 75, a dyed-in-the-wool Rashtriya Swayamsevak (RSS) worker, is no stranger to controversies. In December 2012, the Lokayukta police found currency counting machines in a raid on his house. A nonchalant Eshwarappa justified the possession of the machines as something all businessmen possess, and that they only cost ₹5,000 each. In April 2022, he resigned from the cabinet after he was accused of demanding a 40% commission in work bill payments and a contractor Santosh K Patil died by suicide after naming him as being responsible. In July 2022, Eshwarappa was cleared of the charges by the police due to a lack of evidence of any wrongdoing.

Born in Ballari, Eshwarappa’s parents were daily wage workers who moved to Shivamogga to work in the areca mandi markets. As a student, Eshwarappa joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the RSS, and eventually joined the BJP.

Shivamogga is where the BJP's growth story in Karnataka started and Eshwarappa played a major role in it together with Yediyurappa and local leader DH Shankaramurthy. Both would go on a moped mobilising people to join the BJP and were inseparable as they both became more significant politically — Yediyurappa was state BJP chief thrice (1988 to 1991, 1998 to 1999 and 2016 to 2019), Eshwarappa twice (1993 to 1998 and 2010 to 2013) and Gowda once (2006-2010). While Yediyurappa came to be known as the Lingayat strongman, Eshwarappa was the Kuruba leader from the BJP (current CM Siddaramaiah of the Congress is the other leader of the Kurubas).

However, cracks appeared in their friendship when Eshwarappa floated the Sangolli Rayanna (19th-century Kuruba warrior) brigade to position himself as the community's leader with the tacit support of Santosh, Yediyurappa’s bete noire. The brigade was disbanded following the intervention of the party's central leadership.

In 2021, he petitioned Vajubhai R Vala, the then Karnataka Governor, accusing Yediyurappa of interfering in his Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department and diverting funds.

Now, Eshwarappa has accused Yediyurappa of taking undue interest in getting the tickets for Karandlaje and Bommai, who was reportedly not keen on contesting. In response, Yediyurappa said the party will make Kantesh an MLC after the polls, but Eshwarappa dismissed this saying that a similar promise was made before too, when he was asked not to press for a ticket in the 2023 Assembly elections.

Eshwarappa has also made divisive statements against the minorities. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, in response to Congress leader Iqbal Ansari’s criticism that no party had fielded many Muslim candidates, Eshwarappa had said: “We won't give tickets to Muslims in Karnataka. Why? Because you don't believe in us.” He also said that to gain a ticket, one would need to “sweep the floor of the BJP office for 10 years”.

In March 2023, addressing a speech in Mangaluru, he paused for a second on hearing the azaan the call for prayer by the Imam of a masjid. “`This is a headache wherever you go,” he said. In January 2024, addressing a convention in Belagavi, he said that Muslims should vacate mosques that have been built on temples. “For those areas where mosques have been constructed, it would be advantageous if you voluntarily vacate [the lands]. Otherwise, there may be repercussions… we don't know… how many may get killed, we don’t know,” he said.

Gowda, 71, is a comparatively less divisive figure. Hailing from Puttur in the coastal region of Dakshina Kannada, he is a Bunt Gowda like Karandlaje, and his marriage to Datty, who hails from Somwarpet in Kodagu district, also gives him the status of an Arebashe Gowda (Kannada dialect spoken in Kodagu district).

He became the CM in July 2011, after Yediyurappa put forward his condition that his protege, Gowda, should be made the CM when he had to step down after he was indicted in the Lokayukta report. A year later, Yediyurappa was reportedly instrumental in having him replaced.

Gowda was Union minister from 2018 to 2021 and was among those dropped for reported non-performance during the reshuffle. After raising the banner of revolt, Gowda kept his options open for his next move.

"Since Eshwarappa belongs to the Santosh 'camp', it is possible that he is challenging Yediyurappa's control over the party. He is still bargaining with his party and might withdraw his nomination even after filing it if some of his demands are met," said Chandan Gowda, the RK Hegde chair professor of decentralisation and development at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, and added that Eshwarappa would have been placated if his son was given the Lok Sabha ticket.