BENGALURU: Though Jayalalithaa never flaunted her Karnataka connection, the Puratchi Thalaivi of Tamil Nadu nursed a big ambition to establish AIADMK as a serious player in Karnataka. The victory of AIADMK candidate B Muniyappa from Gandhinagar assembly segment in Bengaluru in 1994 had prompted Jaya to draw up big plans to consolidate the political base of AIADMK in Bengaluru, which has a huge Tamil population.
“It was the first time an AIADMK candidate had won from a constituency in Bengaluru and Amma was elated. It was her first innings as Chief Minister then and she saw potential for the AIADMK to emerge as a force to reckon with in at least 8- 0 constituencies in the city. We had significant voter base in all constituencies, except, perhaps Basavanagudi,” recalls B Muniyappa, the man who had won from Gandhinagar in 1994.
Jaya had identified 35 to 40 seats in Karnataka scattered across Kolar, Chikkamagaluru, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Shivamogga and Chamarajanagar districts where the party had a chance to do better with suitable local political alliances. She saw JD(S) as a possibly ally and extended the support of AIADMK member Muniyappa to then Chief Minister H D Deve Gowda’s government in 1994.
“She had identified Chikpet, Gandhinagar, Bharatinagar as sure-shot constituencies for AIADMK in Bengaluru in the subsequent (1999) assembly election,” Muniyappa told Express.
However, AIADMK’s defeat in the 1996 TN assembly election dealt a big blow to Jayalalithaa. Internal strife that saw the party split with Tirunavukkarasu forming a separate MGR-AIADMK shattered Jaya’s plans for AIADMK in Karnataka as she was fighting for her own political survival, Muniyappa said.
“We will take her wish forward and win in coming elections,’’ said a leader, who did not wish to reveal his identity. In the last Assembly election in Karnataka, AIADMK candidates contested from five places, including Rajajinagar, KGF and Narasimharaja constituencies. They even contested BBMP elections in 2015, but did not win.