MYSURU: Even as the mercury touched 39°C, the battle for the ‘Gowda land’ of Mandya hit a new high with two Vokkaliga titans — former chief minister and JDS candidate H D Kumaraswamy and Karnataka Congress president D K Shiva Kumar —going all out to establish their supremacy.
Kumaraswamy has for the first time entered the fray from Mandya, where his son lost to independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh by a margin of 1.25 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. But with the JDS forging a pre-poll alliance with the BJP, the political balance has changed. Kumaraswamy is facing one of the richest Congress candidates, Venkataramane Gowda, popularly known as ‘Star Chandru’, who declared assets worth `223 crore.
The JDS leader is talking about problems faced by farmers due to drought, damaged crops and irrigation canals, and blaming the state government for releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
After its drubbing in the assembly polls, the Lok Sabha elections is a do-or-die battle for the JDS, especially in Mandya. A victory in the general elections could reignite hopes for the party’s revival, as it was trounced in seven of the eight assembly segments in Mandya. It also lost the recent Legislative Council elections.
Although former prime minister H D Deve Gowda is campaigning in Bangalore Rural, Hassan, Tumkur and other constituencies, Kumaraswamy is the star campaigner for the regional party. Apart from JDS nominees, he is also campaigning for BJP candidates. However, he is yet to reach out to the Mandya hinterland.
While Kumaraswamy accused Star Chandru of being a money bag, the Congress branded the former as an outsider. Star Chandru does not have the stature ot experience of Kumaraswamy. Yet, the going is getting tough for Kumaraswamy.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar are campaigning extensively in the constituency, which will decide the future of the Vokkaliga political leadership in the state. They are also reaching out to microscopic communities, including minorities, Dalits and backward classes with a wider social spectrum as they comprise more than 9 lakh.
If Kumaraswamy fails to win Mandya, it would dent the prospects of the JDS and his bargaining power with the prime minister, though he is keen to extend the alliance till the next assembly polls.