3 min readBengaluruUpdated: May 25, 2026 04:07 AM IST
Nitin Nabin’s maiden Karnataka visit since taking over as the BJP president has triggered speculation that B Y Vijayendra will continue to lead the party’s state unit for a second term.
Having arrived late on Saturday evening, Nabin had breakfast on Sunday with other BJP leaders at the residence of veteran leader B S Yediyurappa, who is Vijayendra’s father and a member of the party’s Parliamentary Board. The breakfast meeting, where Vijayendra played host, was quickly interpreted as a reflection of where the power centre resided in the state BJP.
Vijayendra’s term is set to end in November.
Nabin’s visit was preceded by multiple meetings held by Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, the BJP general secretary in charge of Karnataka, and BJP vice-president Baijayant Panda. They held one-on-one meetings with 30 leaders last week to gather opinions about the state BJP president.
Nabin, who chaired an organisational meeting and the state core committee meeting on Sunday, did not comment on speculations about the next BJP president, even though he replaced two core committee members.
Sources told indianexpress.com that close to half the leaders backed Vijayendra in their meetings with Agarwal and Panda, while the remaining leaders expressed reservations. Former minister Kumar Bangarappa, who is part of a camp opposing Vijayendra, is learnt to have opposed his leadership.
“Others have raised some issues, but have not recommended an alternative to Vijayendra,” a source said.
The name of Union minister of state V Somanna had also made the rounds as a contender for the BJP state president post. However, he has a lower chance as he will be 75 this July, the sources said.
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Nabin trained his guns on the Congress government, accusing it of cheating the people for the past three years. “Due to the internal tussle among Congress leaders, the welfare of the people has taken a back seat,” he said, alleging that the government had become an ATM for the Congress’s national leadership.
Sunday’s meeting is learnt to have focused on improving organisational strength. MLC C T Ravi told reporters that the BJP national president gave instructions regarding the upcoming MLC and Rajya Sabha elections. “He asked party workers to focus on highlighting the failures of the Congress government,” Ravi said.
