BJP Vokkaliga leaders insist on local candidate for Bengaluru North Seat

Bengaluru:  After BJP MP and former union minister DV Sadananda Gowda announced his retirement from electoral politics there's been a lot of discussion as to who will fill the void left by the senior leader and a former CM. Many names have cropped up and with the race for Lok Sabha elections heating up, the Saffron party is in a state of dilemma over candidate selection as it could be crucial in the upcoming polls.

Bengaluru City BJP Vokkaliga leaders have come together to ensure that leaders from outside do not get a chance to contest from the North Lok Sabha constituency. "If outsiders are allowed to enter Vokkaliga politics in Bengaluru, we will all be politically marginalised in the future," say top sources of the BJP from Vokkaliga community to Republic. It is in this context that the sudden move as a team to convince sitting MP Sadananda Gowda has become a matter of intense political debate. Former Deputy CM CN Ashwath Narayan according to sources has said that a team is set to visit Sadananda Gowda's house after Bengaluru BJP Vokkaliga leaders expressed their support.

C.T. Ravi's Bengaluru move raises eyeballs!

C.T. Ravi, who lost the Chikkamagaluru assembly elections has expressed his desire to contest from Bengaluru North constituency and is said to have approached several leaders in this regard.

With former Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda announcing his retirement from politics, political activity in Bengaluru North constituency has gained momentum. The first option was to send CT Ravi to this constituency but now sources to Republic have indicated that there was a discussion in the presence of a Delhi leader from BJP that Shobha Karandlaje Bengaluru North and CT Ravi should be fielded from Chikkamagaluru-Udupi constituency.

However the catch for the BJP is that they lost out on the assembly seats in Chikkamagaluru with CT Ravi being at the helm and also the caste dynamics are not in his favour as the Lingayats in the region were appalled by the statements that CT Ravi had made against them and voted en masse for the Congress.

A former BJP worker from the Udupi-Chiklamagaluru region speaking to Republic on condition of anonymity said that "CT Ravi lost his base because he insulted the Lingayats and Shobha Karnadlaje has more chance because the Lingayats see her as a close aide of former CM BS Yediyurappa, with his backing it is more or less that he will be kept out of the constituency." edit the story re write the news story