Grooming regional leaders a mistake?

TUMKUR: The swift developments in the state politics have made the political pundits suspect whether the BJP is heading for a split as Janata Parivar did in the past.It seems that the local leaders, whom the BJP groomed in the last two years, have outgrown the shoes provided by the party high command. The 2008 polls saw the manufacturing of ‘regional’ and ‘community’ leaders in the party.Cast and community, as well as the support of the BJP national leaders, became trump cards. By the end of the 2008 polls, former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa emerged as the ‘undisputed’ leader of Lingayath community. In general, the local leaders and community leaders helped the BJP to secure five seats short of a simple majority, and the lotus bloomed for the first time in south India. At the same time, partymen such as B Sriramulu emerged as leaders right at the time when the Nayaka community (Scheduled Tribe) in the state felt that it had no leader to represent its demands. The delimitation of constituencies, which rendered seven constituencies in Bellary district reserved for the SC/STs, also turned a boon for Sriramulu.Meanwhile, the Reddy brothers, who knew the power of caste in the electoral politics, elevated Sriramulu and termed him as the chief minister candidature. It was reported that even the religious heads and the community leaders backed Sriramulu. The combination of this backing by mining barons, the power of money and the caste worked in the favour of Sriramulu. The united and strong BJP did not see any problem with the meteoric rise of Sreeramulu until recently. On Sunday, when Sriramulu claimed credit for BJP’s rise in the state, there were no BJP leaders to understand and comment on the new problem.