All eyes are on BJP’s ticket distribution for May 10 assembly elections in Karnataka.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said that his party will have surprise elements in ticket distribution and that selecting candidates for the Assembly polls are being held democratically.
Former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa is an important player in the massive support base for him and the saffron party among the electorally important Lingayat community. The Lotus party has also boosted its overall campaign strategy as popular actor Kichcha Sudeep has decided to campaign for the BJP.
Sudeep belongs to the Nayaka community, predominant in the Kalyana-Karnataka region.
Independent MP of Mandya, Ms Sumalatha Ambareesh, will support the BJP. Her late husband Ambareesh was a legendary actor and a dominant figure in the Vokkaliga community, influential in the old Mysuru region comprising as many as 61 seats. Predictably, these developments vis-a-vis famous film stars backing the saffron outfit have unnerved the JD(S) of the Deve Gowda family and the Congress.
The JD(S) draws its support from Vokkaliga, hence the nervousness. Congress has its inherent problems — the internal bickering.
Senior Congress leader G Parameshwara has already stated that the Congress has as many as ten CM aspirants, including himself. Moreover, the Karnataka Congress is already afflicted with a triangular fight between state unit president D K Shivakumar, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, legislative party president and former CM Siddaramaiah.
Chief Minister Bommai’s statement that there could be surprise elements in the BJP list holds water as there are overwhelming demands for BJP tickets even in seats and regions considered tough. Moreover, there is a beeline of ticket aspirants among youth and newcomers.
In key assembly segments like Davangere North and Kundapura, the BJP will opt for new and surprising faces as MLAs S A Ravindranath and Haladi Srinivas Shett have announced retirement.
In the Azfalpur seat, which Congress leader M Y Patil held, the BJP could choose between two brothers, Malikayya Guttedar and Nitin Guttedar. Another new face Sanghamesh Nirani wants the Terdal ticket. Interestingly, there are new ticket aspirants from Kagwad, Athani and Belgaum Rural. Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, a former minister instrumental in engineering the 2019 defections and bringing BJP to power, reportedly holds significant influence in these areas.
“Based on winnability and guidance from the high command, candidates will be finalised,” senior leader Yediyurappa has said. The formidable Lingayats formed about 17 per cent of the state’s 6.6 crore population. They were expected to sway public mood in at least 100 seats, especially in North Karnataka, Mumbai Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka region. This puts BJP in an advantageous position.
The battle in Karnataka, according to diverse schools of thought, will also be seen as a popularity test of the Modi Government’s crusade against corruption and its policies based on its ‘ideology’ of building an India that is inclined towards the ‘nationalist and Hindutva philosophies’ of the RSS.
“The Hindu consolidation has been a factor as others played up minority appeasement,” says Bengaluru-based educationist Deepak S Partha.
Moreover, it will be the first of the many electoral battles this year post the hyped controversy around the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against the OBC community. Incidentally, Rahul Gandhi has been served with a two-year sentence from a Surat court over Rahul’s controversial remarks made in Karnataka itself in 2019.
There is another common refrain that when caste is into play, politically sensitive communities like Lingayats opt for the tallest leader in the community, BSY. Besides the minority appeasement and issues over Tipu Sultan, the Siddaramaiah administration during Congress rule between 2013 and 2018 never gave prominence to Lingayat leaders from the Congress fold.
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