RAMANAGARA: The Ramanagara Assembly constituency which has given three chief ministers to the state — Kengal Hanumanthaiah, H D Deve Gowda and H D Kumaraswamy — seems to be showing its preference to have the wife of the incumbent Chief Minister as its representative in the November 3 bypoll. Taking the plunge as the JD(S) candidate in the fight necessitated after Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy resigned from Ramanagara to retain Channapatna as he was elected from both the constituencies, Anitha Kumaraswamy is confident of winning the trust of the Ramanagara electorate, which has remained the bastion of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda’s family for the past three decades.
The Vokkaliga-dominated constituency has been a battleground for JD(S) and Congress. However, the coalition in the state following the fractured mandate in the recent Assembly polls has changed the political equations in the constituency. The animosity between Congress and JD(S) here has cast a shadow on the bypoll too despite a diktat from the Congress high command for its rank and file to work for Anitha’s victory.
The forced alliance almost triggered a revolt in Ramanagara Congress unit with Chandrashekar, son of Congress MLC C M Lingappa, quitting the party and BJP pitting him against Anitha. Sensing trouble from Lingappa, Congress has shunted the MLC to Ballari as in-charge of its campaign base office.
Iqbal Hussein, the Congress candidate who fought against Kumaraswamy in the Assembly polls, has been pacified by Congress with a promise of making him the MLA of Ramanagara in the next Assembly election.BJP, which is yet to strike deep roots in Ramanagara, is trying to exploit the rift between the coalition partners.
“People of Ramanagara are yearning for a change as Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy have failed to bring development. People of Ramanagara are set to teach a lesson to JD(S) and Congress who have come together for the lust of power. The alliance is falling apart in Ramanagara. Local Congress leaders and sympathisers are turning to BJP,” says BJP candidate L Chandrashekar.
“We have been voting for JD(S) for a long time now. But Ramanagara has not benefited much. Though it was H D Kumaraswamy, as Chief Minister in his earlier stint, who carved out Ramanagara as a separate district, not much has changed. We wish the constituency will benefit more now as he has returned as the CM again and electing Anitha could help,” hopes Dodda Beeraiah, a farmer of Bevoor village.
Rahmath Ali, an engineering student in Ramanagara, is vocal in making a pitch for Kumaraswamy to bring the IT and ITeS sectors to Ramanagara using his position as Chief Minister. Though the Muslims are not too happy with Congress’ decision not to field local leader Iqbal Hussein, the decision may not benefit BJP much, Rahmath Ali said.
Lack of strong organisational base and the political dynamics of the constituency could prove a hurdle for BJP in its mission to cause an electoral upset. The party candidate Leelavathi had polled just 4,871 (2.84%) votes in the recent Assembly election, while Congress candidate Iqbal Hussein polled 69,990 votes. Kumaraswamy won the seat with 92,626 votes. The vote count for BJP in 2013 Assembly election was a mere 1.19% but it was much better in 2008 with 19.12%.
For 42-year-old Siddesh, who runs an eatery in Ramanagara, a sense of disappointment is building against JD(S) as their support for Deve Gowda’s family has not brought any significant change in their lives. “We too want a change. BJP is making inroads slowly. But is not strong enough yet to bring that change,” Siddesh said.
Silk farmers stare at gloom
Known as the Land of Silk, a sense of gloom has descended on sericulture farmers of Ramanagara as the cocoon price has crashed to D150-200 per kg. Sitting outside the Cocoon Market in Ramanagara, Rajanna was almost in tears as his cocoons failed to fetch even D200 per kg. “Sericulture farmers in Ramanagara district are in distress as the cocoon price which was D450-500 a few months ago has crashed to as low as D100,” rued Akram Pasha. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s promise of paying D50 incentive per kg of cocoon to help the sericulture farmers has remained unfulfilled. Though Ramanagara is 45km away from capital Bengaluru, it scores poor in civic amenities as stench from open drains hits the nostrils. The constituency has not seen any big ticket investment to generate employment either.