Karnataka BJP candidates list was status quo, PM Modi sought fresh faces: Report

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was expected to release its first list of candidates for the Karnataka polls on Monday. However, the list was put off and BS Yediyurappa, the party's senior leader and former chief minister who was in Delhi, made a sudden return to Bengaluru. Now, India Today has reported that the list presented to the central election committee was almost the same, which irked the top leadership.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with the BJP high command, was reportedly upset with the first list of candidates, which was deemed to be a status quo. The prime minister asked the party unit to take a relook at the list and come back with fresh faces and set some parameters, sources told India Today.

According to the report, the prime minister insisted that the candidates selected should have no allegations of corruption against them and that motormouths should be discouraged. In addition, the central leadership felt candidates with a stay order on sex-tape cases are to be avoided.

The prime minister reportedly stressed that the Karnataka BJP should be aspirational and not status quo. According to the report, tickets to father-son duos were also discouraged. The MPs who have sons vying for MLA seats have been told to retire in 2024, the report said.

Reports suggest that senior leaders Jagdish Shettar and KS Eshwarappa were denied tickets in BJP's first list. Sources told India Today said that it was that Shettar, who had served as Chief Minister of Karnataka, would never hold that position again.

Shettar himself had reportedly said that he would not become a minister, and so the party took the decision to remove him and give a fresh face a chance. However, Shettar today said he will contest the polls 'at any cost'. He said the high command asked him not to contest the elections at the last minute.

"I am totally disappointed. They could have intimated to me 2-3 months ago and I would have accepted it. But with a few days before filing the nominations, I have been intimated to not contest. I have already started campaigning in the constituency," he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

KS Eshwarappa, who comes from Shivamogga, is facing corruption charges which is why it was easy for the party to drop him. The BJP has also decided to drop an MLA from Bangalore and an MLA from Mysore, sources told India Today.