Setback to Vijayendra: Popular hindutva leader Arun Puttila gives a miss to Atal Virasat

Mangaluru

In what is seen as a setback to Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra, a prominent Hindutva leader from Puttur taluk and active BJP member Arun Kumar Puttila chose not to attend the Atal Virasat event.

The Virasat programme, organised in Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district, is part of the BJP’s nationwide campaign to celebrate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Several state units of the BJP have already conducted similar events across the country.

In Karnataka, the party and the Sangh Parivar decided to hold the event in Puttur, considered a stronghold of Hindutva. However, the region now appears internally divided.

To begin with, the BJP top brass and party functionaries in the taluk did not extend an invitation to Puttila, signalling that they were confident of organising the programme without him. Sources in the BJP said the leadership believed he might eventually give in and attend voluntarily — a calculation that has clearly gone wrong.

A source close to Puttila told blrpost.com that “not just Puttila, but even his loyalists — who form a large chunk of the BJP cadre — stayed away from the event. This was intended to teach a befitting lesson to the party leadership. As this is a setback to Vijayendra, it has also brought embarrassment to MLC Kishor Kumar and a few Sangh Parivar leaders.”

Sources said that during multiple meetings held in Puttur ahead of the Virasat programme, the cadre questioned the leadership on why Puttila was not being given any party role or responsibility. In various WhatsApp groups of BJP units in Dakshina Kannada, members debated the leadership’s failure to invite him.

It may be recalled that during the 2023 Assembly elections, Puttila contested as a rebel independent candidate and secured a significant number of votes, playing spoiler for the BJP and contributing to the Congress victory in this Hindutva stronghold. Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP leadership persuaded his group — popularly known as Puttila Parivara (Puttila family) — to merge with the party. However, even after more than a year into merger, the party has not assigned him any key role.

Sources within the BJP say Puttila’s absence is a setback to Vijayendra, who has once again failed to bring the rebel faction into the fold.