The race for the next BJP CM candidate in Karnataka intensifies with eight candidates

The list of aspirants for the Karnataka Chief Minister is growing as activities on the leadership change in the state BJP has started. There are more than eight leaders who are in the race for the CM position. All of them are trying to grab the BJP high command's attention.

Bangalore: The list of aspirants for the Karnataka Chief Minister is growing as activities on the leadership change in the state BJP has started. There are more than eight leaders who are in the race for the CM position. All of them are trying to grab the BJP high command's attention.

The contest has begun in the BJP for the succession of Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa. The candidates for the next BJP CM in the states are - Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, Deputy Chief Minister C. N. Ashwath Narayan, Karnataka Minister M Murugesh Nirani, BJP National General Secretary CT Ravi, former Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, MLA Aravind Bellad, Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraja Bommai, and Revenue Minister R. Ashoka are in the race.

No doubt that, if the BJP high command takes a direct decision, it will select the person who will listen to the RSS. If that is the case then, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi might be given a chance. It is not surprising if CT Ravi gets a chance as well. Both the leaders will listen to the party instructions, and that is the plus point for these two leaders.

Jagadish Shettar, who served as the speaker at the time when Yeddyurappa became CM for the first time, got a chance to be the CM of Karnataka between 2012 -13. The current Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri hopes that he too will get the opportunity like Shettar to be the CM.

C. N. Ashwath Narayan joined the state cabinet for the first time. The high command has given Ashwatha Narayan the post of Deputy Chief Minister. There have been rumours that the post has been assigned to manage the role of a future leader, as an experiment to Ashwath Narayan. If the experiment is a success, the BJP high command has the option to elevate Ashwatha Narayan as the CM. If the BJP high command wants someone from the Lingayat community, then they have the option to select Murugesh Nirani, who is a cabinet minister in the current government.

However, if the BJP allows B. S. Yediyurappa to decide his successor, he may choose Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai or Revenue Minister R. Ashoka. It is said that, if BSY decides the next CM from the Lingayat community, then his choice will be Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai, and if he picks the next CM from the Okkaliga community, then Revenue Minister R. Ashoka is his preferred candidate.

BJP can also give a chance to a new face from the Lingayat community, MLA Aravind Bellad, who represents the Hubli-Dharwad West constituency. It is also being said that this time the BJP can directly announce the name of the CM candidate. Therefore, rumours are rife that D. V. Sadananda Gowda, who recently resigned from the Union Cabinet, could be allowed to be the next CM of Karnataka.