The March 7 elections to the urban local bodies (ULB) is like an acid test for Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar. The ULB elections is like a semi-final match before the State Assembly elections, likely to be held in May.
Shettar may have won many election battles but it is for the first time that the BJP is facing an election under his leadership. Political parties have claimed that the results of ULB polls will not be having any bearing on the coming Assembly elections, but in private, they have admit that it will definitely indicate the mind of voters.
Now, Shettar has stepped into former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa’s shoe, who quit the BJP to launch Karnataka Janata Party (KJP).
The ruling BJP is heavily banking on Shettar who hails from North Karnataka and belongs to the Lingayat community. Understanding his responsibilities, the Chief Minister is spending most of his time attending election campaign in Mumbai-Karnataka and Hyderabad-Karnatak region. Other BJP leaders are taking care of rest of the State. It is also a testing time for KJP and it will be interesting to see whether the party will make any dent in the BJP’s stronghold.
The Opposition parties — the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) — seem to have taken the ULB elections seriously and are busy in wooing voters. While the Congress is trying hard to regain control over its erstwhile strong fortress, the JD(S) was silently making inroads into the North Karnataka region. Both the Congress and the JD(S) had lost its base in that region in the 2008 Assembly polls.
Prestige at stake
The prestige of Shettar is at stake as the elections are being held to the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC), which is his home district. The BJP had come to power in HDMC administration for the first time in 2007. In the 67-member House, the BJP had 36 members, Congress 22 and JD(S) has nine. Pressure is on Shettar to ensure that his party returns to power in HDMC.
With the KJP fielding its candidates in many wards, BJP leaders fear division in its traditional vote bank. The Congress and the JD(S) are eying on the minority, SC/ST and backward classes. The Congress is not letting any chance to regain its control over the HDMC.
Hubli-Dharwad BJP City and district president Lingaraj Patil said Shettar, after becoming the chief minister, has released crores of rupees for the development of twin cities.
Yeddyurappa’s KJP may try to damage the vote bank of BJP in some wards, but it would not affect BJP’s prospects. KJP did not have any powerful leaders in Hubli-Dharwad cities except Jabbarkhan Honnalli and Ashok Katwe, former MLAs, who were not mass leaders. “In this elections, KJP will not open its account in Hubli-Dharwad cities,” he claimed.
A Congress leader, on the condition of anonymity, told Express that people are fed up with BJP and they would definitely vote for his party.