In the run up to Karnataka elections, an incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party is facing repeated set-backs that may hamper its electoral prospects. The party’s chronic problem of infighting among its leaders has begun to come out in the open.
In the last decade, it was in Karnataka that BJP had perfected its ‘Operation Lotus’ – a strategy of poaching rival MLAs through enticements and threats. This is the first time that BJP is itself facing defections in Karnataka on this scale.
A former chief minister and an influential leader from the politically powerful Lingayat community, Jagadish Shettar, has announced his resignation from the BJP. Unhappy over having been denied an MLA ticket in his stronghold of Hubli, Shettar, 68, is rumoured to be joining Congress. His father, S.S. Shettar, was among the first elected mayors from Jan Sangh in south India, while his uncle was the first Jan Sangh MLA from Karnataka.
ಕಳೆದ ಕೆಲ ದಿನಗಳ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ವಿದ್ಯಮಾನಗಳಿಂದ ಬೇಸರಗೊಂಡು ನನ್ನ ಶಾಸಕ ಸ್ಥಾನಕ್ಕೆ ರಾಜಿನಾಮೆ ನೀಡಿದ್ದು, ನನ್ನ ಮುಂದಿನ ನಡೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕಾರ್ಯಕರ್ತರೊಂದಿಗೆ ಚರ್ಚಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ.
ಎಂದಿನಂತೆ ನಿಮ್ಮೆಲ್ಲರ ಪ್ರೀತಿ, ಆಶೀರ್ವಾದ ನನ್ನ ಜೊತೆ ಸದಾ ಇರುವುದೆಂಬ ನಂಬಿಕೆಯಿದೆ. pic.twitter.com/ItcEc3khp9
— Jagadish Shettar (@JagadishShettar) April 16, 2023
“I have been ousted from my own home,” an emotional Shettar told reporters on Saturday, April 15. The disgruntled leader – who had been associated with the Sangh Parivar for three decades – has said his ouster will cost the BJP 25-30 seats in the May 10 polls.
Shettar’s resignation comes in the heels of notable biggies quitting the BJP to defect to the Congress or contest as independent candidates over being denied tickets. Laxman Savadi, an MLC from the Lingayat community, quit the party last week, only to promptly join the Congress. Savadi, who was even the Deputy CM of the state, left even while BJP leaders were issuing calls for a reconciliation. In an election where caste equations play a major role in determining arithmetics, a fracture in Lingayat votes may spell doom for the BJP which has traditionally banked on the community. The BJP currently has 110 out of 225 seats in the state, whereas Congress has 77 and Janata Dal (Secular) 26.
Also read: Karnataka Elections: BJP Faces Heat From Snubbed Leaders as It Juggles Competing Interests
The party also faces major concerns in its traditional stronghold of Malnad and coastal Karnataka regions. Whereas the BJP currently has 28 out of 33 constituencies in the three districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and Chikmagalur, observers say, incumbency and infighting within caste groups may impact the party’s overall count this May.
“One major indication of the party’s calculation is BJP toning down Hindutva narrative,” said a Bengaluru-based political analyst, speaking to The Wire. “Though hijab, halal and Hindu-Muslim enmity have been in the headlines over the last year, BJP has gone largely mum on the issues, focussing instead on government policies,” he said.
BJP’s tallest leader in the state, B.S. Yediyurappa, himself appears to have disowned communally divisive narratives that party leaders elsewhere have banked on.
“Hijab, halal issues not necessary…I will not support such things,” said Yediyurappa on April 15, to Indian Express.
“Hindus and Muslims should live like brothers and sisters. From the beginning, I have taken this stand,” Yediyurappa added. The comments, even though they appear benign, come in the wake of BJP fielding Yashpal Suvarna, a firebrand Hindutva leader from Udupi. Suvarna was allegedly one of the chief instigators of the hijab row last year. A government college in Udupi, where Suvarna is a board member, first banned six hijab wearing girls from entering the classroom. Even as the girls sat in protest, Sangh Parivar outfits carried out protests in saffron scarves in “response” to the girls’ assertion of their freedom to wear a hijab.
As the opposition, Congress has stayed away from commenting on the hijab row or economic boycott of Muslims. The party has been focusing on development policies and welfare schemes.
Congress promises high on welfarism
The Congress leader and former MP, Rahul Gandhi, led his first rally in the state with the ‘Jai Bharat Yatra’ on April 16 in the town of Kolar. Incidentally, in the run up to 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it was in Kolar that Rahul Gandhi made the “why do all thieves have the Modi surname” remark that earned him a court sentence as well as a disqualification from parliament five years later. A Surat court sentenced Gandhi to two years of imprisonment on charges of criminal defamation. Gandhi is currently on bail for the same.
“We are making four promises that our government will implement in its first cabinet meeting,” said Gandhi.
Gandhi’s promises included Griha Jyoti (200 units of free electricity to every home), Griha Laxmi (a Rs 2,000 monthly cash subsidy to the woman head of the family), Anna Bhagya or 10 kilograms of free rice per person of each family, and the Yuva Nidhi scheme under which every unemployed graduate in the state will get Rs 3000 cash subsidy per month day and every diploma holder will get Rs 1,500 a month.
Gandhi spoke in Hindi. The speech which was simultaneously being translated to Kannada by senior leader B.K. Hariprasad focused on promises of major welfare schemes as well as attacks on Karnataka BJP government’s alleged corruption scandals.
Caste census
“If we have to make everyone a stakeholder (in this country)…If we want everyone’s progress, we first need to know what our enumeration looks like,” said Rahul Gandhi.
“Let the country know how many OBCs, Dalits and Adivasis live here. Explain to the country why only 7 percent of your secretaries come from these communities. Let the SC and ST quotas be proportionate to their population. Let’s talk about who’s insulting OBCs after you remove the 50% cap on reservations,” said Gandhi.
Adani
Continuing to question Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his silence about the Adani Group’s alleged use of shell companies to bring in Rs 20,000 crore, Gandhi maintained that the parliament was being stifled.
“I said in the parliament that Adani has a shell company. I questioned who owns the Rs 20,000 crore? For the first time in history, the BJP government didn’t let the parliament function. Usually, the opposition stops the parliament from functioning,” said Gandhi.
“I wrote two letters to the Speaker that I want to respond to the allegations against me, but I was not given a chance. He laughed and said I can’t do anything. He said to drink tea with him and he’ll explain. I said you are the Speaker of the parliament, whatever you want to do in the parliament you can do, why are you not doing your work? He is scared to put the Adani issue in the parliament and after that, I was disqualified,” he added.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge promised the revival of the Indira Canteen – government subsidised eateries popular among working classes where a meal would cost just Rs 5. Quoting from The Wire’s interview of former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik, Kharge accused PM Modi of being a chronic liar.