BSY, BJP keeps away from Shivakumar fire

Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai says normalcy will return by Friday
Congress workers held a protest rally on the Bengaluru-Mysore Highway in Ramanagara on Thursday | Express
Congress workers held a protest rally on the Bengaluru-Mysore Highway in Ramanagara on Thursday | Express

BENGALURU: For three days now, supporters of DK Shivakumar have brought Kanakapura to a standstill. On Thursday, the Congress and JDS jointly called for a bandh in Kanakapura, holding the State government to ransom over his arrest. Despite schools and colleges remaining shut in anticipation of trouble, the BS Yediyurappa-led-BJP government seems to be going soft on the protests that saw absolute vandalism, including the torching of state-owned buses.

While the government insists that the situation is under control, the common man continues to suffer because of the disruption of daily life. Political analysts believe there is a deeper reason for the cautious approach to such vandalism by the government. The BJP, which is trying to make inroads into the Vokkaliga heartland, will find the coming together of H D Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar, both prominent Vokkaliga leaders, difficult to manage. Their allegations against the BJP of practising ‘vindictive politics’, as well as Shivakumar’s relations with former Congressman S M Krishna, is sure to be weighing on the BJP’s mind. 

“There is an impression that any targeting, particularly now that Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy are on the same side, any effort to come down on them too heavily, will close the doors for the BJP in the Vokkaliga heartland,” observed Prof Narendar Pani, Political Analyst and Professor, School of Social Sciences, National Institute of Advanced Studies. He added that the BJP’s self-righteous stance of putting the corrupt in jail doesn’t quite hold water in Karnataka. “There is a widespread belief, whether right or wrong, that everybody is corrupt,” he said. 

The government on record has stated that it expects normalcy by Friday. Home Minister Basavraj Bommai, speaking to TNIE, said, “Now our officers have control of the situation... But if they take the law into their own hands, then we will have to deal with it,” he said. 

While the party is attempting to strengthen its roots in the elusive Vokkaliga belt, a ‘Lingayat versus Vokkaliga battle’ is the last thing the BJP wants. “The BJP needs both Lingayats and Vokkaligas ideally. Their project of expanding in southern Karnataka can backfire if this goes wrong because this will be seen as an attack on Vokkaligas,” Prof Pani added.

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