Both the Congress and the BJP appear to be sailing in choppy waters in Karnataka. While the Congress is grappling to find candidates in several constituencies, the BJP is encountering rebellion in some seats following the announcement of candidates to 20 of the state’s 28 Lok Sabha seats.
The importance of the southern state for both parties cannot be overstated. The BJP has been doing well here; it won 25 seats in 2019 and helped an independent, Sumalatha—film star and wife of former Union minister Ambareesh—win. The BJP’s gateway to south India is vital for the party to realise its dream of 370 seats in the Lok Sabha, while a good tally from here is key for the Congress to come out of the ignominy it has faced in the last two general elections. The Congress, after winning the assembly elections almost a year ago, has set itself a target of 20 seats this time. The BJP is in alliance with the JD(S), which had tied up with the Congress in 2019.
Over the last few weeks, the Congress has struggled to convince about 10 ministers of the Siddaramaiah government to contest, but all of them refused. Efforts are going on to convince some other MLAs, but even they seem unwilling. It has announced candidates for seven seats where there were no problems regarding nominees. The struggle to find candidates is more pronounced in the three Bengaluru city seats, which the party has not won for long. It has been losing the Bangalore South seat since 1991.
The saffron outfit dropped nine sitting MPs (some of them wanted to retire), renominated 10 MPs despite some of them facing opposition from the party cadre, and brought in seven new faces including noted cardiac surgeon Dr C N Manjunath (Bangalore Rural), who is the son-in-law of former PM H D Deve Gowda.
The BJP is facing backlash from party workers for different reasons in Udupi-Chikmagalur, Mysuru, Tumkur, Bidar, Vijayapura, Koppal, Haveri, Davanagere, Chamarajanagar, Bengaluru North, Chikballapur, Chitradurga, Hassan and Uttara Kannada. Former minister and founding member of the BJP in the state, K S Eshwarappa, rebelled against the party for denying his son K E Kanthesh a ticket from Haveri, from where the party has decided to field former CM Basavaraj Bommai. Haveri has a good chunk of voters from the backward Kuruba (shepherd) community, to which Kanthesh belongs. By fielding Bommai, the party has sent a signal to his Lingayat community, which is in large numbers in this region.
Eight of the 20 BJP candidates are Lingayats, which underscores the party’s efforts to win back the community that voted against it in the last assembly polls. Following the unceremonious sacking of CM Veerendra Patil, a Lingayat, by the Congress in 1990 and the efforts of veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa, a fellow Lingayat, the community had embraced the BJP, but deserted it last year.
Eshwarappa, who was reportedly denied an assembly ticket following corruption allegations, has decided to contest from Shivamogga as an independent candidate, despite some senior BJP leaders trying to convince him otherwise. Former minister B C Patil, who had demanded a ticket from Haveri, said he would take a call soon after being denied nomination.
Another seat that has seen rebellion is Davanagere, where the BJP has fielded Gayathri Siddeshwara, wife of outgoing MP G M Siddeshwara. Here, several party leaders including former minister Renukacharya demanded a ticket. Like Siddeshwara, whose father G S Mallikarjunappa was also an MP, this constituency is likely to see a contest from another powerful political family, that of Shyamanur Shivashankarappa of the Congress. All these leaders hail from the Lingayat community.
In Mysuru, sitting MP Pratap Simha ridiculed Yaduveer Wadiyar of the erstwhile royal family before and after his selection. Simha’s ticket was denied apparently as he issued passes to those who disrupted the Lok Sabha last year with smoke canisters. But Simha, a former journalist, antagonised several local leaders too.
In Udupi-Chikmagalur, party workers protested against sitting MP and Union minister Shobha Karandlaje being given a ticket, alleging that she rarely visited the Western Ghat constituency after her victory. A long-time confidant of Yediyurappa, Shobha has been given the Bangalore North ticket. The party also ignored the claims of former national general secretary C T Ravi for a ticket from Udupi-Chikmagalur. He lost from Chikmagalur in the last assembly elections. Union minister Bhagvant Khuba has faced opposition from party leaders and cadre in Bidar.
Also denied a ticket was four-time MP and former state unit president Nalin Kateel from Dakshina Kannada. Kateel faced opposition from party workers for long. The sitting MP from Uttara Kannada, Ananth Kumar Hegde, has come under fire from the Congress for his controversial remarks on Gandhiji and the Constitution. The Hindutva firebrand said the NDA needs 400 seats in the Lok Sabha to amend the Constitution. The party, which has distanced itself from the statement, is yet to take a call on his candidature, though he won with a margin of over four lakh in 2019.
Yediyurappa appears to continue to call the shots. The ticket distribution reflects his choices, over those of his rival, BJP general secretary B L Santosh. The dropping of Kateel, Simha, and the denial of a ticket to Ravi—all supporters of Santosh—are pointers to the equation.
(Views are personal)
B S Arun | Senior journalist based in Bengaluru