BENGALURU: When state BJP vice-president and Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra visited Sira on September 21 this year, he was far from being appointed as one of the incharges for the Assembly seat bypoll. Not the one to wait, Vijayendra had started his homework much earlier. When he was made one of the eight in-charges finally in October, all he needed to do was execute his plan from the recce.
For a man who was once denied an Assembly ticket during the 2018 Assembly elections by the Central leadership, Vijayendra has proven, for the second time, to be an election winner. On Tuesday when BJP bagged Sira for the first time, Vijayendra was one of the primary reasons for the victory. Vijayendra improvised taking off from his KR Pete bypoll victory lessons. Backed by cadres from neighbouring constituencies, the strategy was clearly to appeal to women and youth voters. “The good turnout was a result of us being able to convince voters to vote beyond the compulsions of caste. Women and youngsters have come out in our support.
We asked for one chance for us. People have voted for development,” Vijayendra told TNIE, even as his supporters cheered on in the background. The pitch was simple, vote for a candidate whose party is in power. “Our mantra was to use the disappointment against Congress and JDS to our favour,” he added. From temple gatherings, village corner meetings, everyday prayer time meetings, individual micro-caste leader meetings to wooing seers, Vijayendra turned BJP’s unconventional campaign ideators.
After working a caste combination magic in the Gulbarga Lok Sabha election which became the sabre to slay a giant like Mallikarjun Kharge, BJP state general secretary N Ravi Kumar weaved the caste combination like a plait in Sira. In a seat with no great cadre base, Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol played a key role in consolidating backward classes and Dalit votes. Despite facing criticism for choosing to campaign instead of visiting floodhit districts, Karjol continued with his consolidation efforts. In Rajarajeshwari Nagar, given N Munirathna’s popularity and money and muscle power, the BJP had little to worry about, but for managing differences within the party.
State party vice-president Arvind Limbavali doubled up as logistics manager to ensure smooth functioning of the party machinery in support of Munirathna. Given that Munirathna was up against two Vokkaliga candidates in a Vokkaliga-dominated constituency, Revenue Minister R Ashok stepped in to consolidate the community votes. While in Sira the strategy was to goad everyone to the polling station, it was the opposite at Rajarajeshwari Nagar. Intense efforts were made to convince non-BJP voters to refrain from voting.