BJP wooing former minister N Mahesh to consolidate Dalit votebank?

Mysuru: The saffron surge in the southern districts of Karnataka, and more so in the Old Mysore region, was among the salient points one derived from the outcome of both the 2018 assembly and the ’19 Lok Sabha polls. What was even more revealing was the BJP’s performance in constituencies where the Dalits accounted for a sizeable chunk of the electorate. Now, in a bid to further strengthen its hold among the Dalits in the Old Mysore region, the party is reportedly trying to woo

former minister

and

Kollegal

MLA

N Mahesh

.

Ahead of the polls to the gram panchayat in South Karnataka districts, the BJP is eager to add Mahesh to its rank of influential Dalit leaders. V Srinivasa Prasad’s joining the party more than three years ago helped the party make inroads in

Chamarajanagar

– Prasad is the incumbent MP for the Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha segment – and the BJP is now keen on expanding its base in the border district, and the induction of Mahesh, who is reportedly very popular among the young Dalit populace in the district, is likely to help achieve this objective.

Chamarajanagar district in-charge minister S Suresh Kumar had, in the wake of BJP bagging the vice-president’s post in the Kollegal

City Municipal Council

, publicly thanked Mahesh for his help. In a tweet, Kumar had gone to the extent of claiming Mahesh to be a member of the BJP’s family.

Mahesh said that he was not averse to the prospect of joining the party. “But I am yet to receive any formal invitation from the party. But I have learnt that the possibility is being discussed within the BJP. I have not discussed the possibility of joining the BJP with anyone so far,” said the former minister, who recently announced that he would not return to the BSP.

Mahesh was expelled from the BSP after he abstained from voting during the ‘no-confidence motion’ against the HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government.

General secretary for BJP’s Karnataka unit MLC N Ravi Kumar said that the party would readily welcome Mahesh, who had been instrumental in the party coming to power in the state last year. Although the

saffron party

’s Chamarajanagar unit president R Sundar endorsed Ravi Kumar’s opinion, BJP’s Mysuru region organisation secretary Suresh Babu said that there were no proposals that the top brass was considering regarding Mahesh’s possible induction.

‘Decision will have to be taken by state party chief’

N Mahesh helped us stake claim in the Kollegal CMC. We share a cordial relationship. Mahesh will be welcomed to the BJP if he accepts our ideology. I will confer with the president of the Karnataka unit of the BJP about his joining the party. But since he is an MLA and the leader of another party, a decision in this regard will have to be taken by the party’s state president.

-R Sundar | President, Chamarajanagar BJP


Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.