BJP fears Nirmala Sitharaman may not click in Karnataka, wants her moved to TN

As the Bharatiya Janata Party prepares to finalise its candidates, the idea of fielding Sitharaman, 65, from Karnataka was discussed with the state unit but faced unexpectedly strong opposition.

Nirmala from Karnataka?

The BJP’s Central Election Committee has held meetings with state BJP leaders, including former chief minister BS Yediyurappa, his son, and state BJP president BY Vijayendra and general secretary (Organization) GV Rajesh, among others.

Party sources told The Federal that the BJP toyed with the idea of fielding Sitharaman from Bengaluru South or Mangalore, considering them the party's safest constituencies.

Tejasvi Surya and Nalin Kumar Kateel represent the two seats.

BSY vetoes Nirmala

However, Yediyurappa, also a member of the BJP parliamentary board, does not support Sitharaman's candidacy for Karnataka.

A BJP leader close to BSY, as Yediyurappa is widely known, said Sitharaman's Tamil origin was one of the reasons for the opposition to her candidature by the Karnataka BJP. She has come under attack in the past from the Congress and pro-Kannada groups for her apparent inactivity during the water crisis between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and other issues despite being a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka.

Anti-Nirmala campaign

“The Siddaramaiah government has also run a strong campaign against her concerning tax devolution issues and disparity in budgetary allocations as well as other grants towards Karnataka,” the leader said.

Siddaramaiah's cabinet held a ‘Chalo Delhi’ campaign in Delhi recently and condemned the Union government, focusing on Sitharaman.

“All these were brought to the notice of the BJP leadership by the Karnataka leaders,” the source said.

Tamil origin

Sitharaman was born into a Tamil Iyengar family in Madurai in Tamil Nadu in August 1959. She was educated in Villipuram, Chennai and Tiruchirappalli before joining New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.

If she is chosen for Bengaluru South, the Congress may raise the issue of her Tamil origin, which could also impact other constituencies, BJP sources said.

There is also brewing opposition from the influential Billava community to dropping Kateel from Mangalore.

Mangalore constituency

There is intense competition between Billavas and Bunts to get the Lok Sabha nomination from Mangalore constituency. At the same time, a Brahmin, Arun Puttila, a staunch Hindutva leader, has thrown his hat as well. 

The BJP leadership had thought that Sitharaman’s national charisma will overcome all the differences between various communities and castes in that region.

Caste factor

But the state BJP does not agree, arguing that if the Bunts and Billava leaders go neutral, it could derail the BJP. Billava leader and MLA from Mangalore Umanath Kotyan has openly told his community to support any candidate from their community.

Such emotive concerns will grow if somebody from outside the constituency parachutes to contest, a BJP leader warned.

Nirmala in Kanyakumari?

BJP sources also point out that Union minister Rajiv Chandrashekhar’s name was considered for Bengaluru South or Bengaluru North constituency but later shifted to the Kerala capital to take on Shashi Tharoor of the Congress. So, why should Sitharaman contest from Bengaluru, asked a party leader, and suggested she should fight it out from her home state, Tamil Nadu.

A BJP source said the central leadership is now planning to put up Sitharaman from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. The constituency, in the southern tip of India, has slowly turned into a BJP hub after being a Congress bastion for long. If an alliance with the AIADMK is struck, it will be easy for Sitharaman, many believe.  

Karnataka challenge

At the same time, the high-profile Tejaswi Surya may be given a chance again to contest from Bengaluru South – if no national leader is fielded from there. But BJP bastion Mangalore will see a new face, party sources insisted.

BJP leaders admit that with the Congress in power, it will be a challenge to repeat the 2019 impressive performance when the BJP swept 27 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state.