TUMAKURU: As the countdown begins for the December 10 Council polls, indications are that the H D Deve Gowda factor will play a role in the Tumakuru seat, turning it into a triangular contest. This seems to have thrown open an opportunity for the BJP.
As Gowda lost the Tumakuru seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, despite being the Congress-JDS alliance candidate, owing to a ‘conspiracy’ by former MLA and rebel congress leader K N Rajanna, who openly claimed his hand in it, the Vokkaligas and Dalits are seemingly up in arms to avenge it.
It is evident from the fact that the JDS fielded former KAS officer Anil Kumar R, who hails from the ST Nayaka community, against Rajanna’s son R Rajendra, also from the same community.
Meanwhile, the BJP has fielded a Kunchatiga Vokkaliga, N Lokesh alias Lokesh Gowda, who hails from Sakkare Gollahalli of Doddaballapur taluk in Bengaluru Rural district. He is the lone Vokkaliga candidate in the fray.
“We are not going to be split by sub-sects within the caste, and hence, will support Lokesh Gowda. Anyway, we have to defeat Rajanna’s son and our choice will be BJP this time,” remarked Narase Gowda, a supporter of former Turuvekere MLA M T Krishnappa.
Last time, when incumbent MLC BEML Kantharaju, a Vokkaliga, was the candidate, the JDS was a united front. This time around, however, Kantharaju and Gubbi MLA S R Srinivas have been supporting the Congress candidate. So, some leaders within the JDS are supporting the BJP candidate since he too is a Vokkaliga.
Meanwhile, Dalits have also raised the issue of Rajanna allegedly badmouthing Dr G Parameshwara over the latter allegedly enjoying the zero traffic privilege when he was the deputy CM. Only if the AHINDA electorate, under Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, put up a united front can the Congress give a fight. Otherwise, the division between the two ST Nayaka candidates may give an edge to the BJP, political watchers feel.