Senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj made public her differences with the party leadership on the re-induction of B Sriramulu within hours of the BSR Congress chief formally returning to the BJP-fold in Bangalore.
“I want to make it absolutely clear that B Sriramulu has been admitted in the party despite my stiff opposition,” Sushma tweeted late Friday night, making it clear that her objection had been overruled by BJP chief Rajnath Singh, who is learnt to have acted on pressure from the party’s Karnataka unit on the contentious issue.
Sriramulu returned to BJP after the party top brass decided to allow his entry, but not his party’s merger following public opposition by Swaraj. While the BJP leadership could not overrule Swaraj entirely, they settled for allowing only Sriramulu back into the party, but not the rest of his associates.
Swaraj’s tweet on her objection even after final call had been taken could only sour the atmosphere among the party’s top leaders as they get into election mode.
Sriramulu, who left BJP in November 2011 and formed his own outfit, was once a close aide of mining baron Janardhana Reddy, now in jail in Andhra Pradesh in an illegal mining case.
“...Sriramulu has rejoined the party today, Karnataka BJP wholeheartedly welcomes him; all necessary legal procedures will follow,” state BJP president Prahalad Joshi told reporters.
Sriramulu’s re-entry came a day after BJP parliamentary board decided to field him as party candidate for Bellary Lok Sabha seat.
Sriramulu, who wields influence over the Valmiki community, is expected to give incremental value to BJP in the districts of Bellary, Gadag, Koppal and Chitradurga.
BSR Congress won four assembly seats in the May 8 polls last year.
The BJP gave out tickets to dynasts in their own fold. Jayant Sinha, son of former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, got his father’s Hazaribagh seat, and Poonam Mahajan, daughter of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, is being fielded against Priya Dutt. There is even talk that Sadhana Singh, wife of Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan, could be fielded from Vidisha for the assembly bye-election. Rahul Gandhi may have called the Congress the “default programme of a computer called India”, but it now seems as though “Congressification” is the ubiquitous political culture. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, senior ideologue of the party, dismisses the contention that there is now nothing much to choose between the Congress and the BJP in terms of fostering political dynasties or its ethos in the last few months.
“I want to make it absolutely clear that B Sriramulu has been admitted in the party despite my stiff opposition,” Sushma tweeted late Friday night, making it clear that her objection had been overruled by BJP chief Rajnath Singh, who is learnt to have acted on pressure from the party’s Karnataka unit on the contentious issue.
Sriramulu returned to BJP after the party top brass decided to allow his entry, but not his party’s merger following public opposition by Swaraj. While the BJP leadership could not overrule Swaraj entirely, they settled for allowing only Sriramulu back into the party, but not the rest of his associates.
Swaraj’s tweet on her objection even after final call had been taken could only sour the atmosphere among the party’s top leaders as they get into election mode.
Sriramulu, who left BJP in November 2011 and formed his own outfit, was once a close aide of mining baron Janardhana Reddy, now in jail in Andhra Pradesh in an illegal mining case.
“...Sriramulu has rejoined the party today, Karnataka BJP wholeheartedly welcomes him; all necessary legal procedures will follow,” state BJP president Prahalad Joshi told reporters.
Sriramulu’s re-entry came a day after BJP parliamentary board decided to field him as party candidate for Bellary Lok Sabha seat.
Sriramulu, who wields influence over the Valmiki community, is expected to give incremental value to BJP in the districts of Bellary, Gadag, Koppal and Chitradurga.
BSR Congress won four assembly seats in the May 8 polls last year.
The BJP gave out tickets to dynasts in their own fold. Jayant Sinha, son of former finance minister Yashwant Sinha, got his father’s Hazaribagh seat, and Poonam Mahajan, daughter of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, is being fielded against Priya Dutt. There is even talk that Sadhana Singh, wife of Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan, could be fielded from Vidisha for the assembly bye-election. Rahul Gandhi may have called the Congress the “default programme of a computer called India”, but it now seems as though “Congressification” is the ubiquitous political culture. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, senior ideologue of the party, dismisses the contention that there is now nothing much to choose between the Congress and the BJP in terms of fostering political dynasties or its ethos in the last few months.
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