(Our Political Desk)

After successfully reinstalling the party into power Gujarat, the BJP president Amit Shah is set to shift his focus on Karnataka.

In his first visit after ensuring his party’s victory in his home state, Shah will arrive in the city on New Year’s Eve to review the poll preparations and the strategy devised to wrest power from the Congress.

On Sunday, he is expected to review progress of the party’s ‘Parivartana yatra,’ di scuss strategies to handle the Mahadayi issue, and direct its leaders to refrain from making statements that damage the party’s image.

Sources said the party chief is likely to pull up senior leaders for failing to present a united front during the ongoing ‘Parivartana yatra’.  The 75-day yatra, that had started from Bengaluru on November 1, has been receiving a good response from the people, but not many senior leaders are accompanying State BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa, who is leading the campaign for change.

“Most senior leaders were part of the Parivartana Yatra only when it was in their respective constituency or district. Presence of senior leaders will help the party to project a united front and not give an impression that it is only Yeddyurappa’s yatra. During the meeting to review the progress of the yatra and measures to be taken in the next phase, the party chief is likely to direct the senior leaders to be a part of it,’’ sources said. The campaign will end in Mysuru on January 25 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rally in Bengaluru on January 28.

Sources said the party Central leadership is concerned about a backlash over reckless comments by some leaders, especially over social media.Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde’s comments deriding secularists had landed the party in an embarrassing situation. The Central leadership had taken a serious note of this. On Sunday, Shah is likely to issue strict directions to the leaders to refrain from making reckless remarks, sources said.

‘BJP not interested in solving mahadayi’:“If Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was serious about solving the Mahadayi crisis, he should have written to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. What was the point of writing to BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa?” said K C Venugopal, All India Congress Committee general secretary and in-charge of party affairs in Karnataka. AT the KPCC office here on Friday, he said this clearly shows that the BJP is not serious about resolving the row and the issue is just being used to meet political ends. Venugopal also questioned the motive behind the protest organised by the State BJP in front of the Congress office on Wednesday, saying it was merely a political gimmick.

Mahadayi disputePolitical implications of Mahadayi dispute and the party’s strategy to counter Congress that is seeking Prime Minister’s intervention will also be discussed.  The party that was completely on the back-foot on Mahadayi dispute had received some hope following the Goa CM Manohar Parrikar letter expressing his willingness to discuss the issue with Karnataka. The farmers’ protest outside the party office here and Congress’s aggressive campaign putting the issue back in the PM’s court has put the BJP on a sticky wicket.