NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party today, January 4, appointed Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan its in-charge for the forthcoming Karnataka assembly polls, a party statement said.
Pradhan has been tasked with handling several elections in the past, including the last year UP assembly polls in which the BJP retained power with a big margin.
K Annamalai, Tamil Nadu BJP unit president, will be the co-incharge for the high-stakes elections where both the ruling party and the opposition Congress have launched intensive public outreach for the polla likely to be held in April-May.
In addition, Pradhan was in charge of the assembly elections for Assam and Madhya Pradesh in 2015 and 2018, respectively. He will be expected to mobilise the organisation in Karnataka while resolving internal conflicts in the local unit to maximise the party's attempts to maintain power in the crucial southern state. He is a skilled politician. The only southern state where the BJP has ever held office is Karnataka.
In July 2018, the party decided to transition the state's leadership by removing the incumbent chief minister, B S Yediyurappa, and replacing him with Basavaraj Bommai, a Lingayat like the seasoned leader.
Despite losing his position of authority, Yediyurappa's prominence in comparison to his successor's understated manner has caused his shadow to linger for a long time. Its top organisational body, the Parliamentary Board, recently appointed him, and the party's central leadership is doing all in its power to keep him in good spirits.
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