Journo Pratap Simha joins BJP -  Party could face rebellion in Mysore

Shreyas H S
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore/Mysore

Bangalore/Mysore, Mar 14: A day after the announcement of BJP's third list, Pratap Simha, journalist, writer and columnist of a prominent Kannada daily, who was given the ticket from Mysore, officially made his entry into the party on Friday March 14 in Bangalore, wasting no time on garnering consolidated support from the RSS, said highly placed sources.

Sources close to Pratap Simha speaking to daijiworld said even as the rift continued within the BJP in Mysore constituency over his candidature, with people of the district contending that the party high command should consider the local leaders in the selection of candidate, Pratap Simha managed to convince the top brass to choose him. Opposition to his candidature on the grounds that he was not a party member has also been effectively quelled with him joining the party on Friday.

According to the sources, Pratap Simha on Friday morning was accompanied by RSS leaders to the BJP office to sign up as a member before he descends on the election battleground in Mysore constituency.

On the other hand, moments after the official announcement of the candidate for Mysore, internal bickering raked up within the party, with key aspirant to Lok Sabha ticket C H Vijayshankar appearing on a TV channel and expressing his disappointment over the decision.

Sources from Mysore speaking to daijiworld said, on March 13, before the official announcement of the candidate, in a condolence meet held at BJP office in Mysore to pay homage to former deputy speaker S Mallikarjuna, the party cadre created a clamour to shun away Pratap Simha from the constituency. Senior party leader Gopal Rao reportedly raised voice first and created a flutter among the members.

In an effort to pacify the members, BJP Mysore president Maruti Rao assured them that Simha’s name was not yet finalized and top brass would reconsider the decision.

Currently, the situation is under control, but at any moment some members of the party may rebel against Simha, sources said.