Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Sep 25: Veteran BJP leader and former deputy chief minister, K S Eshwarappa, chose to stay away from the BJP core committee meeting held at New Delhi on Sunday September 24. His absence gave signal to the national leadership of BJP that he is disgruntled and nurses grievances against former chief minister and BJP state president, B S Yeddyurappa.

In-charge of state election and union minister, Prakash Javadekar, had convened the said meeting. At the residence of Prakash Javadekar, a party had been organized for Karnataka BJP core committee members and some other important leaders. The main purpose of this party was to hold discussions about the preparations for the upcoming assembly election and Parivartana Rally planned by the party. Therefore, most of the party bigwigs from Karnataka had reached Delhi on Sunday and taken part in the meeting. But Eshwarappa remained absent from the meeting, it is said.

Eshwarappa's gesture attains significance in the light of the recent instruction of national BJP president, Amit Shah, who had held meeting for three days in the state and instructed leaders to sink all their differences and prepare to face the election. He also had asked state BJP leaders to find out where they are going wrong. It was thought that Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa have buried their hatchets.

Eshwarappa's grievances stem from the fact that he feels that his followers are being neglected when forming various organizational teams. His supporters like Bhanuprakash, Nirmal Kumar Surana, Nandish Kademane and some others, whose names found place in the first list, had disappeared when the second list came out. Eshwarappa, who is angry at this development, decided against taking part in the meeting to register his dissent, analysts say.

In addition to central minister, Prakash Javadekar and Piyush Goyal, Yeddyrappa, Ananth Kumar, Jagadish Shettar, C M Udasi, Govind Karjol, Aravind Limbavali, R Ashoka, Prahlad Joshi, B L Santosh and Nalin Kumar Kateel took part in the meeting, sources said.