
BENGALURU: On Tuesday, 14 more Lok Sabha seats will go to polls, eventually drawing the curtains on elections in Karnataka. The last of the 14 seats — largely in North Karnataka — has compelled both the BJP and Congress-JD(S) combine to approach voters differently. With polling a day away, the BJP, that is banking on the ‘Modi wave’, is hopeful that the perception of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and the JD(S) being a ‘South Karnataka only’ Vokkaliga dominant party, will transfer the ire on to coalition partner Congress and its candidates. The Congress-JD(S) combine, however, is drumming up the ‘negligence towards OBC’ card to dent the BJP’s prospects.
Former Chief Minister and BJP MLA Jagadish Shettar said, “There is a belief that JD(S) and its leaders are anti-North Karnataka. H D Kumaraswamy wasn’t even present for the Kalasa-Banduri Mahadayi ground-breaking ceremony. No new projects have been sanctioned to North Karnataka under this regime and people remember all that.”
He insisted that the anger people of North Karnataka feel against JD(S), will spill on to the coalition Congress candidates. The Congress-JD(S) combine, meanwhile, has been consistently raking up the issue of BJP not fielding a single OBC candidate. While Vokkaliga is categorised as OBC in Karnataka, the Congress essentially pointed out to disparity of not giving tickets to candidates from Most Backward and More Backward Classes.
Speaking during Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Chikkodi, Siddaramaiah said, “Not a single ticket was given by BJP to OBCs. But the JD(S) and Congress alliance has given 8 Lok Sabha tickets to OBC. We believe in the constitution and social justice.” The issue has been pointed to multiple times by various leaders of the coalition in the last three days. While BJP leadership insisted that it believed in inclusiveness and leaders from OBC communities had been accommodated in various party posts as well as MLAs, the alliance is still hopeful of the issue denting the BJP.
“Apart from reserved constituencies where they have to field candidates from SC/ST communities, the BJP has only accommodated candidates from upper castes. It shows the BJP’s mindset,” said Tanveer Ahmed, JD(S) spokesperson. He, however, dismissed the perception that JD(S) was a Vokkaliga only party. “JD(S) is strong in South Karnataka, yes, but it doesn’t mean we are a South-Karnataka-only party. The Chief Minister doesn’t belong to a caste or a region. He has been the biggest star campaigner for both parties,” he added.
Lingayats are a politically and socially dominant community in North Karnataka. The deliberate comparative silence of the community as well as parties, especially in the minority religious tag issue, has given Congress the confidence and BJP the jitters. “A chunk of Lingayats who were miffed with Congress, especially in places like Dharwad, Bagalkot, and Vijayapura, had voted BJP in 2018 assembly polls. Now, there is a fear that they could have returned to the Congress,” said a BJP source.
“The Congress isn’t making it an issue at the state level but is taking it up at individual constituency level because they have support from both sections. If Congress does well in places where the Lingayat section is stronger then that means it is working for them,” said Prof Narendar Pani, Political analyst.