Shobha Karandlaje resigns, upsets RSS

Shobha Karandlaje’s resignation, demonstrating her support to former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, has shocked the BJP. 

The party cadres and workers of Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarti Parishat (ABVP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevika Sangh (RSS) said that there is no rhyme or reason to take such a step. They said that they are disappointed to see a politician groomed in the stables of the Sangh Parivar act without thinking.

Shobha was recruited in the BJP when she was with the ABVP in 1999. Her rise in the party was meteoric and this, say party elders, was not because of Yeddyurappa but due to the BJP elders who backed her up as the face of women in BJP.  They said that things have changed in the past three years and she has consistently disregarded every value the Sangh Parivar had taught her during her 15-year association with the ABVP and RSS.

“It is not typical of an ABVP or RSS cadre person to follow an individual when his or her primary allegiance is towards the party and the Sangh Parivar. Shobha has not just shocked us, but has also disappointed us,” said K Rama Bhat Urimajalu, chief minister Sadananda Gowda’s mentor.

The women in RSS opined that Shobha should not have resigned to show her support to an abrasive person like Yeddyurappa, who has several cases against him and whom the CBI too is investigating. By supporting Yeddyurappa at this juncture, Shobha has only shown that she is just an ‘ordinary’ politician.