The meeting of senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Thursday night has aroused political curiosity due to the timing of the meeting that took place back on Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai leaving Delhi.
The main reason for the political curiosity is that though the Chief Minister was camping in Delhi for two days, he could not meet Mr. Shah. However, Mr. Shettar managed to meet him.
Mr. Shettar has said that it was an informal and cordial meeting in which several political issues too were discussed.
Sources in the BJP State unit argue that it could be an effort by the party high command to consult party senior leaders ahead of preparing a road map for the 2023 Assembly elections in Karnataka.
Referring to the speculation that the party high command is looking at the possibility of either ministerial expansion or reshuffle as well as effecting an organisational rejig, they feel that Mr. Shettar’s meeting could be related to such an exercise.
Meanwhile, the ministerial aspirants are disappointed as the high command is yet to give its approval for immediate expansion. The matter is expected to be discussed further when BJP national president J. P. Nadda would arrive in Karnataka to participate in the party State executive to be held in Hosapete on April 16 and 17.
This is being seen in BJP circles as a cautious approach by the party high command as it does not want either the disappointed ministerial aspirants or those to be dropped from Ministry to rebel against the party just when elections are less than a year ahead.
Also, the proposal for appointing veteran leader B.S. Yediyurappa’s son B.Y. Vijayendra as party’s prominent office-bearer or including him in the Ministry has also made the party high command to tread cautiously in this regard, sources in the party said.
Earlier, there were expectations of a ministerial expansion soon after the Chief Minister’s return from his Delhi visit. However, now it turns out that things in this regard may move forward only after the State executive if at all the central leadership wants a ministerial expansion or reshuffle.
