Daijiworld Media Network – Vijayanagar (EP)
Vijayanagar, Feb 23: In a fight that broke out in Vijayapur zilla panchayat premises, BJP party workers assaulted one another with chairs in presence of BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa.
At the Shakti Kendra conference that took place on February 23, few activists approached Yeddyurappa with a request to not issue election ticket to current MP Ramesh Jigajinagi. This angered the MP’s supporters leading to a fight.
With the Lok Sabha elections a few months away, the BJP leaders are working to strengthen the party through campaigns along with BJP national president Amit Shah. But politics of factions became visible in Vijayapur district politics.
The campaign for Lok Sabha elections was set in motion by BJP in Vijayapur. A conference of Vijayapur Bagalkote Shakthi Kendra was held. Former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, union minister of agriculture Purushotham, Vijayapur MP and union minister Ramesh Jigajinagi, Bagalkot MP P C Gaddigowder, former minister Murugesh Nirani, Govind Karajola and several former and current MLAs were present.
Former CM Jagadish Shettar, Prahlad Joshi and several BJP leaders from north Karnataka were absent. Vijayapur MLA Basanagowda Patil Yatnal too was absent. He had criticized Ramesh Jigajinagi on Facebook on Friday and stayed away from the conference on Saturday.
The party members had pinned hopes on Yeddyurappa to clear the air between Ramesh Jigajinagi and Basanagowda Patil. The fight in the presence of BSY was embarrassing for the party.
Jigajinagi who had spoken during the oath taking ceremony of district BJP president, claimed to have done more work than the previous MP. “I have brought grants worth hundreds of crores. I will resign if anybody proves that the previous MPs have done more work and brought more funds for development,” he had said.
Basanagowda Patil had hit back questioning, “Where and to which village have the MP’s funds reached? How is the position of model village of MP? It has remained as the most backward in the district. Ramesh should be ashamed to say that he had done more development than any other MP.” Patil's statement was supported by several BJP activists.