Karnataka Assembly Elections: Why Tejasvi Surya isn’t one of BJP’s 40 star campaigners

The Karnataka Assembly elections is around the corner and all political parties are working their hardest to ensure that come 13 May they emerge victorious in the southern state. On Wednesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party announced their list of star campaigners and it comprised of the who’s who of the party in the state and on a national level.

The 40 names on the list include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP president J P Nadda, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadvavis. There’s also Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, strongman B S Yediyurappa, former Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and other state leaders.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader and Karnataka BJP General Secretary (Organisation) G V Rajesh, and film stars Jaggesh, also Rajya Sabha member, Shruthi and Thara Anuradha also found their way on the list.

However, what was even more newsworthy than the names on the list, was the omissions from it. Firebrand leader Tejasvi Surya, BJP’s youth morcha president and MP from Bengaluru South, was left off the list, raising eyebrows among many.

The decision to omit the 30-year-old prominent face from the state also prompted the Congress to react. According to a Hindustan Times report, the Congress called him a ‘nafrati chintu’ and added that nobody cares for him even in his state and it was time for him to get down from his high horse.

Why was he left off the list?

Tejasvi Surya is undoubtedly one of the most prominent names in the state and his exclusion from the star campaigners list is raising questions. Is it a case of the high command being unhappy with him, is it about his declining political clout or is it a strategic move by the saffron party?

BJP sources speaking to NDTV said Surya’s exclusion from the list is not a negative thing neither is it about the recent ridicule he has been receiving. Surya received a lot of flak after it emerged that he was the person who had opened an emergency exit on a passenger flight before take-off.

“It has nothing to do with that, said a BJP official to NDTV, adding, “He was a star campaigner in a few other states previously, like in Tripura.”

Another party member was quoted as telling The Print that it was a strategic move to keep the focus on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and keep Surya focused on his constituency and organisational work.

“He is a member of Parliament from Karnataka and a popular leader for us. He is anyway campaigning for the party and has been doing so for weeks now. But we also need people from the organisation who can be sent at short notice for meetings, everyone cannot be burdened with the responsibility of campaigning all the time,” a BJP leader told NDTV.

Who is Tejasvi Surya?

A lawyer by training and profession, Tejasvi Surya made big headlines in 2019 when at the age of 28 he was elected as MP from Bengaluru South. He describes himself as a history enthusiast and a “core believer in Hindutva, the inclusive philosophy that is the core of Bharat since its ancient times”.

Tejasvi is said to have been heavily influenced by his paternal uncle, Basavangudi BJP MLA Ravi Subramanya. As a child, he attended RSS shakhas.

Also read: Will actor Kichcha Sudeep be a hit for the BJP in the Karnataka Assembly elections?

Surya has also seen himself mired in controversies over his remarks. In June 2018, after the BJP lost the Jayanagar Assembly bypoll to the Congress, Surya tweeted that it was because of “the complete consolidation of Muslim vote”. He then called on the BJP to “‘really’ become a Hindu party”.

When thousands carried out a morcha against the Citizenship Amendment Act at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, he stirred a row by saying the “Mughal raj is not far away if the majority community is not vigilant”.

In December 2021, while speaking at the Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt in Karnataka, the fiery leader had said that temples should have ‘yearly targets’ to reconvert people who’ve left the Hindu religion. He even said that during festivals, the temples should have special targets of ‘bringing back’ those who left the Hindu religion for whatever reasons over the course of history.

#WATCH Only option left for Hindus is to reconvert all those people who’ve gone out of the Hindu fold…those who’ve left their mother religion must be brought back.. My request is that every temple,mutt should’ve yearly targets for this:BJP MP Tejasvi Surya at an event on 25 Dec pic.twitter.com/8drw0lfKAh

— ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2021

He later apologised for his remarks after he was called out for being hateful and communal in nature.

The most recent controversy in which he was embroiled was in January this year. It was revealed that Surya had ‘accidentally’ had opened the emergency door of an IndiGo aircraft in December 2022. His action had caused a delay in the flight for over two hours after a strict security check of the door by engineers. However, he was allowed to fly in the same aircraft after issuing an “apology letter”.

The Congress had then mocked the BJP MP with NDTV quoting the state party as saying, “Tejasvi Surya is an example of what will happen if children playing games are given the proprietorship. An act of children's mischief by trying to open the emergency exit door of the plane has come to light. Why prank with the lives of passengers?” said the Karnataka Congress.

Who else was left off the list?

And it wasn’t just Tejasvi Surya who hasn’t been named a star campaigner for the BJP for the Karnataka Assembly elections. BJP strongman in the state BS Yediyurappa’s younger son B Y Vijayendra has also been omitted from the list. He is contesting from Shikaripura.

BJP MP Pratap Simha, who represents Mysuru, has also been left off the list. He is also known for his firebrand Hindutva politics.

Will this decision be helpful to the BJP or will it hurt them? The answer will be revealed on 13 May.

With inputs from agencies

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