BJP cadres of warpath over exclusion of senior leaders from Ministry

Close on the heels of BJP celebrating the historic occasion of forming its first full-fledged Government in a south Indian state, party cadres took to the streets in various parts of the Karnataka and unleashed violence in protest against the denial of Ministerial berths to several senior leaders including former Minister Jagadish Shettar.

Violence erupted in Hubli, which is the native of Shettar, on Friday evening with angry supporters of the BJP leader went on a rampage, damaging state-run buses and attacking a wine store in the town.

Police said a group of protestors stopped a state-run bus near railway gate in Hubli and set it on fire after directing the commuters to alight from the vehicle. By the time Fire and Emergency personnel arrived, the bus was gutted.

Five other buses belonging to the state-run North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation were damaged after miscreants threw stones at them in different parts of Hubli. One person was injured when the protestors attacked a wine store in the town.

Following sudden outbreak of trouble in Hubli, the authorities withdrew bus service in the town. Fearing more trouble, vehicular traffic also came to a standstill in many parts of the town.

In Bangalore, hundreds of supporters of former Minister Jagadish Shettar, who had arrived from Hubli to watch the swearing in of their leader as a Minister, marched towards Basaveshwara circle in the City and gave vent to their anger. They even shouted slogans against Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa.

Meanwhile, the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and corporators of Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation have threatened to resign en-masse as a mark of protest against denial of Ministerial berth to Shettar.

Shettar, who was offered the post of Speaker, has firmly rejected the offer. “I will not accept the post of Speaker at any cost. I will work as an ordinary MLA if the party leadership does not accommodate me in the Ministry”, a crest-fallen Shettar told reporters.

Several BJP supporters staged a road blockade in Anekal on the outskirts of Banaglore in protest against the exclusion of local MLA Narayanaswamy from the Ministry.

Similiar protests were held in Mysore late on Friday evening and Saturday by supporters of four-time MLA H S Shankarlinge Gowda over the denial of a Ministerial berth to him. Gowda.

Gowda lashed out at the BJP leadership for ignoring his claims for a ministerial berth despite being one of the senior-most party MLA in the state. “Despite having won four times in a row and being a loyal soldier of the party, I have not been included in the Ministry. What is the yardstick in choosing Ministers? Am I a criminal or a drug peddlar?”, an enraged Gowda asked.

Also sulking over the denial of Ministerial berth is former Minister D H Shankarmurthy, who was the Higher Education Minister in the JD (S)-BJP coalition Government. Shankarmurthy walked out of a meeting with Yeddyurappa at RSS headquarters in Bangalore, where the BJP leadership was trying to assuage the hurt feelings of ministerial aspirants on Saturday.