BENGALURU : The results of bypolls to Hanagal and Sindagi assembly constituencies are not likely to impact the ruling BJP government in Karnataka, but will have a bearing on the fortunes of all three parties and their leaders.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's prestige is at stake, as the BJP has given him a free hand with his development politics, and also announced that he is the party's face for the 2023 assembly polls. The bypoll results, especially Hanagal, are crucial as leaders within the party questioning him in case of a debacle, cannot be ruled out.
Bommai, who is on a visit to New Delhi, has set his agenda and also rolled out a number of policies, including a dashboard to track the progress of projects. Both Bommai and KPCC president DK Shivakumar have reportedly stated that the results will neither set a trend for the 2023 assembly polls nor are they a pointer to the future.
For Shivakumar, under whose leadership the party has not made much of an impression so far, except for the Maski bypoll win, the results are crucial too. Especially so Sindagi, as he has allegedly 'poached' former JDS minister late MC Managuli's son Ashok, and fielded him as the candidate.
Siddaramaiah's leadership will also be at stake, as Hanagal has over 40,000 Kuruba voters, and the bypoll will test his mettle as a community leader. Moreover, he has managed to get his supporter Srinivasa Mane, MLC, fielded as the Congress candidate.
For the JDS, which looks reinvigorated after holding a seven-day workshop for its ranks, retaining Sindagi is important. Whether the party manages to get back the Muslim voter will be apparent in these polls, as the party has fielded Muslims in both the seats.
Former CM HD Kumaraswamy tried to burnish the secular image of the party after he attacked the RSS ideology, and party supremo and former PM HD Deve Gowda too asserted that he had no admiration for the organisation. "The Congress has poached all the Muslim leaders I groomed. Should I keep quiet?" he replied, when asked about his party’s intention in fielding Muslims.
The Congress, which is looking to get back the support of a section of Lingayats, managed to get Ashok Managuli, a Panchamashali leader. The party is also looking to accommodate a community leader in the AICC -- as suggested by Siddaramaiah to former AICC president Sonia Gandhi -- to cash in on any loss in BJP’s support, with former CM BS Yediyurappa being relegated to the sidelines.
HD Kumaraswamy, Siddaramaiah take swipes at each other
BENGALURU: It is election season and the combatants are literally at each other's throats. Congress leader Siddaramaiah, who criticised the JDS, said "no intelligent voter will vote for JDS". To this, HD Kumaraswamy hit back, asking if all the "intelligent people were in Siddaramaiah's pockets".
With Ashok Managuli, son of former JDS MLA MC Managuli, joining the Congress and contesting as a Congress candidate, Kumaraswamy said, "The Congress is trying to draw sympathy by fielding Managuli’s son whom they have 'hijacked'."
Kumarasamy said the Congress finished third in Sindagi in 2018, and there is no occasion when the Congress had even finished second in the recent past. He hit out at Siddaramaiah, saying if he doesn’t criticise the JDS, he doesn't get sound sleep. Siddaramaiah, who participated in a protest in Mandya, old journalists that he doesn't wish to respond to such criticism.