Party leaders have promised to speak to BSY: Eshwarappa

Senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa on Sunday said that the party top brass is aware of the discontent over the style of functioning of state party president B S Yeddyurappa and that the leaders have promised to resolve the problems soon.

Eshwarappa, who met the party national general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal and deputy general secretary B L Santosh at the party headquarters here, later told reporters, “I have explained to the leaders the developments in the state unit. They said they are aware of the issues and promised to discuss them with Yeddyurappa and address them soon.”

Eshwarappa said his intention was to protect the interests of loyal party workers “who are pained.”

Thousands of party workers strived to enrol one crore members to the party and Yeddyurappa should have consulted other leaders before announcing the office-bearers’ list, he said.

Eshwarappa said he explained to the leaders about the appointment of the leaders of the erstwhile outfit Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) as office-bearers and requested that the issue be rectified, by appointing loyal party workers to the party posts.

Regarding the disciplinary committee formed by Yeddyurappa, he said it is a welcome development.

“Whoever crosses the party line, irrespective of the post they hold, should be punished,” he said.

Senior BJP leaders from the state including Nirmal Kumar Surana, Shivayogi Swami and Bhanuprakash accompanied Eshwarappa during his meeting with party leaders.

‘Must take everyone along’
“The next Assembly elections will be faced under the leadership of Yeddyurappa. To ensure the party’s victory, he should take all leaders together,” he said.

The appointment of office-bearers and presidents of district units has triggered discontent against the Lingayat leader, with several party functionaries openly questioning his “unilateral” decisions.