BENGALURU: BJP is resorting to caste mathematics to win the 2023 Assembly polls as the party high command seems to have realised the necessity of it. It is evident from the fact that it nominated backward ‘Koli’ community leader Baburao Chinchansur for the lone Legislative Council seat, even though he is a relative newcomer to the party, having joined BJP from Congress only in 2018.
“We have enough Veerashaiva-Lingayat community leaders in the party. That is why we nominated Chinchansur to woo the Koli community in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region,” said a BJP leader with RSS origins. What drew the high command’s attention to Chinchansur was his ability to get his former guru-turned-foe Mallikarjun Kharge defeated in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The party has been focussing on the SC-ST-OBC combination as it feels it will be difficult to win the elections if adequate representation is not given to members of these communities. The decision is also to counter Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah’s move to woo OBCs.
The minorities and Kurubas could favour Siddaramaiah, but other communities, including a section of Dalits and OBCs, are averse to his leadership, and that is why BJP is trying to get their support, a BJP leader observed.