BJP’s Karnataka puzzle: Party has an opening, but no clear game plan | Political Pulse News
The BJP has delivered an impressive performance in the recent Karnataka Legislative Council elections to four seats, but it is struggling to find its bearings in the state, party leaders have said.
While the attention may be slowly shifting to the coming electoral battles in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab early next year, Karnataka remains important for the BJP because it is the only southern state where it has been in power and can potentially return to the helm when the elections are next held in 2028. However, BJP insiders said the party was far from being battle-ready in the state amid lingering leadership problems, differences between senior leaders, and the absence of a clear strategy to take on the D K Shivakumar-led Congress government.
“The departure of Siddaramaiah was a huge opportunity for the party but its political performance since then illustrates its predicament,” said a BJP leader familiar with developments in the south. “The three elements that define Karnataka BJP today are: D K Shivakumar building bridges with Hindus through the Mutts and their leaders and already moving into poll mode; the leader of our ally JD(S), H D Kumaraswamy’s self-assertion and almost taking over the leadership of the Opposition; and third, a very divided BJP, with a state president (B Y Vijayendra) being opposed internally by senior leaders.”
A senior BJP leader said the state unit appears “leaderless and drifting at a time when the Congress is embroiled in controversies and internal rifts following the reluctant departure of Siddharamaiah”. Karnataka remains the only major state where the central leadership has yet to finalise the leadership question. With state BJP president B Y Vijayendra’s term set to expire on November 10, internal jockeying for the top post has intensified, sources said.
Vijayendra recently concluded a 10-day “Ballari Chalo” padyatra to focus the narrative on alleged corruption, unemployment, and the Congress government’s alleged failure in delivering welfare schemes. However, as a result of the state unit’s lack of cohesion, according to party insiders, it has not been able to corner the Shivakumar government over the severe drought in the state. The state has declared 227 of its 240 talukas as drought-affected for the kharif season.
BJP insiders said former CM and Haveri Lok Sabha MP Basavaraj Bommai was keen on focusing on national politics, while Union Minister V Somanna’s ambitions in the state were well known. A recent meeting between Somanna and a few other state BJP leaders at his official residence in the national Capital and his attempts to bring back senior MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal have raised eyebrows in the state unit. Yatnal, a former state minister, was expelled from the party in March 2025 for six years following his constant criticism and political attacks on Vijayendra and his father B S Yediyurappa, a former CM.
A vocal Kumaraswamy
While the BJP tries to get its act together, Kumaraswamy has taken the lead as the Opposition’s most vocal voice against the Shivakumar government. A BJP MP from the state said Kumaraswamy enjoys the trust and confidence of the BJP’s national leadership, more than several state leaders of the party itself.
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In the past two months, the JD(S) leader and Union Minister’s public criticism of the Congress on issues such as the sting video controversy, the Karnataka Public Service Commission recruitment scam, farmers’ issues and the Bidadi case has received significant attention. The video controversy centres on an alleged sting operation targeting Siddaramaiah. An unverified video linked to a 2011 incident recently surfaced on social media and news channels and has created a major political crisis in the Congress, with Kumaraswamy accusing his long-time rival Shivakumar of targeting his own party colleagues. The CM has dismissed the allegations. The Bidadi land controversy centres on the Greater Bengaluru Integrated Township (GBIT) project planned across roughly 7,500 acres of fertile agricultural land. Kumaraswamy has accused Shivakumar and the Congress government of turning fertile land in eight villages into a land-grab scam.
The BJP has gone from strength to strength in Karnataka since the 1980s, even as it struggled to gain a strong foothold in the rest of the South. In the recent past, it has made inroads in Telangana too. The BJP has high stakes in both Karnataka and Telangana — the party has a combined 25 of 45 MPs from these states — that are going for polls in 2028, months before the Lok Sabha polls the following year.
