Cross-voting by the BJP MLAs during the recent Legislative Council elections has intensified suspicion and mistrust in the party State unit that is already gripped by groupism.

While the party high command is set to discuss the issue in Delhi on Tuesday, senior leaders are concerned that the air of intensified mistrust at a time when the party has to gear up for the next Assembly elections might affect the morale of its cadre.

Opposition within

It is no secret that a group of senior party leaders including MLAs, have been opposing the leadership of State president B.Y. Vijayendra on various grounds, including that it deviates from the party’s stand against dynastic politics as he is the son of the party’s veteran leader B.S. Yediyurappa.

Apart from publicly criticising him, some leaders had also gone to Delhi to meet Central leaders to put forth their views. However, this group had been maintaining a low profile ever since the Central leadership cracked the whip by expelling rebel MLA Basanagouda R. Patil Yatnal for six years.

Now, Mr. Vijayendra’s supporters suspect that his political detractors may have a role in the cross-voting to show him in a poor light and to undermine his leadership. Mr. Vijayendra said that the incident had made the cadre to look at all 63 MLAs of the party suspiciously.

On their part, those opposing him have already taken to social media, squarely blaming him for the turn of events.

Several senior leaders in the party are concerned over these developments as they feel that they could come in the way of galvanising the cadre at a crucial time when it is expected to take an aggressive path to take on new Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar who is known for his “no-holds-barred” functioning style.

Why extra candidate?

Pointing out that the party has less than two years to face the crucial 2028 Assembly elections, some senior leaders said that the BJP-JD(S) coalition leaders could have avoided this embarrassment by not fielding the extra candidate. They express concern that the cross-voting had publicly proved that the party could not break through the political strategies of Mr. Shivakumar. In this context, they feel that the BJP high command has a greater role to play now.

Some of the BJP leaders also feel that it is a cautionary bell that the coalition partners need to improve their coordination ahead of 2028.

Recalling an earlier episode when the party had been haunted by cross-voting when its candidate Taradevi Siddarth lost the Rajya Sabha polls in 2004, a senior leader recalled that it took time for the party to recover.

Dharmasthala event may be cancelled

The BJP is likely to cancel the proposed legislature party meeting to be held at Dharmasthala to “seek the truth” on cross-voting following serious opposition by several party leaders.

BJP State president B.Y. Vijayendra announced on Sunday that he was keen to hold a legislature party meeting in Dharmasthala.

“Several leaders including former Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda and MLAs S. Suresh Kumar and Arvind Bellad called me to oppose the idea of using a pilgrimage centre for political purpose. Following this I have decide to talk to Mr. Vijayendra about this,” Leader of Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly Assembly R. Ashok told presspersons in Bengaluru.