BJP brass tells state units to check rifts

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership has instructed its state units to ensure disagreements between the old guard and those who joined the party from other political outfits do not derail preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran

According to party functionaries aware of the discussions, reports of friction that are spilling into the open have become a concern in a bunch of states, such as Karnataka, poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, and West Bengal, where leaders either threatened to or have quit the party.

In Karnataka, party strongman BS Yediyurappa has been given the mandate to pacify MLAs who are threatening to join the Congress. There is speculation that a group of sitting legislators, including ST Somashekar, Munirathna and Bhyrati Basavaraj, could move to the Congress, which came back to power in the state in May.

The BJP’s former national general secretary CT Ravi, who held a meeting with the leaders on Saturday, ruled out exits and said the party was in the process of resolving the complaints of the sitting MLAs who made their grievances public. A party functionary, speaking on condition of anonymity, however said disagreements between party leaders have been brewing for some time.