As Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Bengaluru on Monday night, political activity kicked up in the BJP State unit. The series of meetings he will chair with party leaders on Tuesday are expected to chalk out the strategy for the 2023 State Assembly polls.
Mr. Shah will participate in a lunch hosted by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, which will see all MLAs, MLCs, and MPs from the party participate. He will later address a special meeting of party office-bearers and senior leaders at a star hotel in the city, where he is expected to discuss the strategy roadmap for the elections. He is also expected to chair the core-committee meeting. B. L. Santosh, BJP national general secretary (Organisation), had on Sunday hinted that the party may go for fresh faces, denying tickets to several incumbent legislators, a strategy that has worked for the party in other States. These issues are expected to come up for discussion on Tuesday.
This is the second visit of Mr. Shah to the State in a month’s time, indicating the party high command will drive the campaign in Karnataka.
Meanwhile, Mr. Shah has no scheduled programmes till Tuesday afternoon, when he is expected to hold a meeting with the Chief Minister and other senior leaders of the party.
Amidst speculations of leadership change, many in the party have denied them as mere “rumours”. Former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, speaking to media persons on Monday, said Mr. Bommai was doing good work and there was no question of leadership change. Speculations were rife after Mr. Santosh’s statement on Sunday that the BJP was opposed to dynastic politics and said leadership change was one of its strengths and he cited examples of Uttarakhand and Gujarat.
Meanwhile, intense lobbying is on to secure a berth in the Cabinet. Mr. Bommai had recently said he will discuss Cabinet expansion when Mr. Shah visits the State. “Mostly four to five Ministers will be dropped and nearly 10 new faces will be inducted into the Cabinet by May 15. The list will mostly be finalised on Tuesday,” a senior leader said.
