Karnataka: Big blow for DK Shivakumar as Vokkaligas back JD(S)-BJP in LS polls
Shivakumar's hopes of becoming a tall Vokkaliga leader in Old Mysuru have been dashed with the JD(S)-BJP alliance's wins in this region in this 2024 LS polls
By : The Federal
Update: 2024-06-04 09:33 GMT
The results of the 2024 Lok Sabha election in Karnataka is emerging as a big setback for KPCC president DK Shivakumar on many fronts.
Firstly, it dents his chances of projecting himself as a tall Vokkaliga leader in the Old Mysuru region as a counter to JD(S) chief HD Kumaraswamy's hold over the region.
Secondly, he also has to face the humiliating defeat of his brother DK Suresh, the three-time MP from Bengaluru Rural in this election.
Suresh, who had won the Bengaluru Rural seat in 2014 and 2019 LS elections, has now suffered a big defeat in the hands of the BJP's candidate Dr CN Manjunath in the LS polls.
Setback for DKS
Political observers felt that DK Suresh’s defeat will come as a blow for Congress regional strongman Shivakumar.
This battle was actually between Shivakumar and former PM HD Deve Gowda's family over leadership of the Vokkaliga bastions. Clearly, the Vokkaligas failed to support Shivakumar and the Congress.
Also, the Vokkaliga bastions like Bengaluru Rural, Tumkur, Chikkaballapura, Kolar, Mandya and Mysuru have all stuck to the BJP.
Dr CN Manjunath, V Somanna, Dr K Sudhakar, Mallesh Babu have won from their respective constituencies. Only two constituencies including Chamarajanagar and Hassan have gone to the Congress.
Though Hassan is a JD (S) strong belt, earlier represented by the former PM HD Deve Gowda, JD(S) lost it to Congress as sitting MP Prajwal Revanna's pendrive sex scandal broke out on the eve of voting in the Hassan constituency.
JD(S)-BJP alliance
Many political analysts had been skeptical about the JD(S) and BJP alliance pointing out that it would hamper JD(S)'s chances in this election.
However, the election results have proved that the Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysuru region supported the NDA alliance and JD(S) in particular. These results show that the Vokkaliga community stood by the JD(S).
This has in fact helped the BJP in the Old Mysuuru region, where it has won six constituencies, with the exception of Chamarajanagar and Hassan. Though Chamarajanagar and Kolar are the reserve constituencies, the Vokkaligas are considered to be the deciding factors here.
Fight for the Vokkaliga votes
These results have clearly crushed Shivakumar's hopes of emerging as a powerful Vokkaliga leader in the Old Mysuru region. Moreover, HD Kumaraswamy, his major political rival has won the Mandya constituency by a big margin.
In the 2019 elections, Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy lost in Mandya and now his father Kumaraswamy has won back the constituency with a big margin.
Snub for Shivakumar
However, the victory of Dr CN Manjunath, former director of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology, and son-in-law of HD Deve Gowda from Bengaluru rural constituency against his brother, the three-time MP DK Suresh, will hurt the most.
JD(S) had earlier alleged that Shivakumar was responsible for distributing the pen drives containing Prajwal Revanna’s sleaze videos. The JD(S) had alleged that Shivakumar did this as a form of retaliation against Deve Gowda's family for fielding Dr Manjunath from the BJP against his brother.
Now Manjunath and his staunch rival HD Kumaraswamy have romped home to victory, which clearly is a snub for Shivakumar.