BJP woes deepen in Karnataka as leaders continue to meet deputy CM

The woes of Karnataka's former ruling BJP continued as deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday visited the residence of prominent central Karnataka BJP leader and former MLA Poornima Srinivas. Tejaswini Ananth Kumar, wife of late BJP leader and union minister Ananth Kumar, had also met Shivakumar recently.

Speaking to reporters after Wednesday's meet, Shivakumar, while answering questions on ‘Operation Hast’, maintained that "we won’t carry out any operation, we will carry out co-operation".

Srinivas’ late father Krishnappa was a minister in the Congress government. "Her father was our leader. We share a bond. I have not discussed politics with her. I was invited to her residence for Krishna Janmashtami,” he maintained.

On her part, Srinivas revealed that she has received an invitation to join the Congress. "But I am in the BJP and have not thought of quitting the party. This discussion has been going on since the assembly elections. I have never talked about quitting the BJP," she said.

"Even now, I am not thinking of quitting the BJP. If at all I decide so, I will make an announcement and let everyone know about my decision," she added.

Sources say both Srinivas and Tejaswini Ananth Kumar are unhappy with the treatment meted out to them within the party. Tejaswini’s daughter had also praised former CM HD Kumaraswamy, much to the chagrin of the then BJP government.

Meanwhile, Congress leader and former CM Jagadish Shettar’s brother, BJP MLA Pradeep Shettar earlier publicly claimed that circumstances are forcing the state's influential Lingayat community to move away from the BJP and most leaders from the community will leave the party soon, among them former ministers Shankar Patil Munenakoppa, JC Madhuswamy, MP Renukacharya, and former MLA SI Chikkanagoudar.