Limbavali is most likely to take charge in December
Limbavali is most likely to take charge in December
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The new leader? Limbavali might head the state's BJP soon |
Aravind Limbavali, minister for higher education, is tipped to be the next state BJP president.
Party insiders say Limbavali is expected to take charge in December following the election of a new national president in November.
RSS man Bal Apte is rumoured to replace Rajnath Singh and state party president Sadananda Gowda is expected to move to Karnataka Milk Federation as the chairman.
Neutral's the flavour
"The turbulence at the national level has prompted leaders to go for a neutral person at the helm," said a BJP leader. "Apte fits the bill."
Earlier, the name of former Mysore MP C H Vijaya Shankar was being bandied about for the state leadership. But state leaders preferred a strong organisational man to a mild leader. Limbavali is regarded as grassroots politician and the only leader to have contacts with workers at the block level, after chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and Ananthkumar.
"He knows the geography and demography of all the 224 constituencies like the back of his hand andu00a0 this could be one of the reasons why he's being considered."
However, Limbavali is not neutral like Apte. With an ABVP background, he was a loyal follower of Ananthkumar, also from the ABVP. However, he recently switched loyalties and moved to the Yeddyurappa camp.
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The turmoil at the centre is keeping party supporters anxious |
Reluctant
A source close to Limbavali said he didn't want to give up his ministerial berth but Yeddyurappa has managed to convince him that his position as party president would be stronger with the government backing him and he would have a say in accommodating party workers in the administration.
With Limbavali becoming the state president, Yeddyurappa will be left with two vacancies in his cabinet.
Add to that D Sudhakar's impending resignation and there could well be a cabinet reshuffle towards the end of the year.
And that is good news for aspirants like Shankaralinge Gowda and C T Ravi.
Gowda is opposing Shobha Karandlaje as the district in-charge minister of Mysore and is likely to replace her because he is from the district.
