Bengaluru: With the Assembly polls just a few weeks away, the BJP top brass on Friday announced formation of two party panels — Poll Campaign Panel and Poll Management Panel.

While Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will head the Poll Campaign Panel, Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje will head the Poll Management Panel.

The appointment of Bommai as Poll Campaign Panel Chief has put to rest all speculations that veteran party leader and former CM B.S. Yediyurappa (BSY), a Lingayat strongman, would be the panel chief. However, Yediyurappa has been made a member of the panel, along with eighteen others. 

The Members of Poll Campaign Panel are: B.S. Yediyurappa, State BJP Chief Nalin Kumar Kateel, former CMs D.V. Sadanandagowda and  Jagadish Shettar, Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi, Shobha Karandlaje and A. Narayanaswamy, former Minister K.S. Eshwarappa, Ministers Govind Karjol, B. Sriramulu, R. Ashok, Shashikala Jolle, C.C. Patil, S.T. Somashekar, Dr. K. Sudhakar, Prabhu Chavan and  Dr. C.N. Ashwathnarayan, BJP National General Secretary C.T. Ravi, MPs V. Sreenivasa Prasad and P.C. Mohan, former Ministers Aravind Limbavali, Lakshman Savadi and Ramesh Jarkiholi, State BJP Vice-President B.Y. Vijayendra and MLC  Chalavadi Narayanaswamy.

The members of Poll Management Panel are: Union Minister Bhagvant Khuba, Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary, former Minister Aravind Limbavali, leaders Raghunathrao Malkapaure, Nirmal Kumar Surana, Tejaswini Ananthkumar, Siddaraju, Ashwathnarayan, Mahesh Tenginkai, S. Keshavprasad and Geetha Vivekananda and  MLCs  N. Ravikumar and Chalavadi Narayanaswamy.

Interestingly, the party’s young and outspoken MPs Pratap Simha and Tejasvi Surya and Minister V. Sunil Kumar have not found a place in either of the two committees.

Likewise, MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, who has often embarrassed the party through his controversial remarks, too has been kept away. Housing Minister V. Somanna, who is said to be considering quitting the BJP, too has not been included in either of the panels.