How BJP reduced Sangolli Rayanna from a freedom fighter to caste leader in Karnataka

In less than five months, Karnataka would vote to elect members of its 224-member assembly. To ensure over 122 of those elected belong to the BJP fold, among many other steps, the party this Republic Day, announced a plan to honour a man who died fighting for the nation 192 years ago — exactly on January 26. Making the announcement, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he would “issue directions to install the statues of Sangolli Rayanna and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in every government college in Karnataka”.

Bommai, however, not just heaped praises on the sacrifices of Rayanna, who was hanged by the British government in 1831, but also the queen — Kittur Rani Chennamma — in whose ranks Rayanna served. By invoking the sacrifices of Rayanna and Chennamma in the same breadth, Bommai actually made a bid to reach out to two communities.

“They said if one Sangolli Rayanna is hanged, Sangolli Rayanna will be born in every house. Forty-five years ago, before India’s first freedom struggle, it was Kittur Rani Chennamma, who had waged a war against the Britishers. Had they not fought against the Britishers, the country would not have gained independence so soon. Their adventurous stories must be told to children. We must understand that the country will have a bright future if they stay united,” Bommai said while addressing an event to commemorate Rayanna on his 192nd death anniversary.

Rayanna, who was born on August 15, 1798, and died at a young age of 33 years, was the right-hand man of Chennamma, who fought against the British. The BJP wants to appropriate the sacrifices of Sangolli Rayanna with an eye on the Kuruba (shephard) community, and hail Chennamma to attract the Lingayat voters.

The Kuruba clout

The bid to vow Kuruba voters by ‘honouring’ the sacrifices of Rayanna is not new. The BJP had begun to talk about it in 2010 and is once again raising the issue as the elections are drawing close. Kurubas constitute 9.3 per cent of the state’s population forming electorally the third major community after Lingayats and Vokkaligas.

Clubbed under the Other Backward Classes category, the Kurubas share 15 per cent reservation with 104 other castes. The community, however, enjoyed the Scheduled Tribes (ST) status till 1977 when Justice LG Havanur, who headed the Backward Class Commission, removed the ST tag, moving the Kurubas to ‘most backward classes’ category. Justice LG Havanur introduced an area restriction stating that those living in Bidar, Yadgir, Kalaburagi and Madikeri with Kuruba synonyms could continue to avail the ST benefits. The community has since been demanding a ST status.

With elections just months away, the ruling BJP government, which is facing several corruption charges and anti-incumbency, is trying to polarise the votes based on religion, caste and community. Lingayats are traditional voters of the BJP, while the Vokkaligas are split between the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Congress. Also the backward classes, minorities and Dalits traditionally vote for the Congress. The BJP wants to divide the backward class votes, where the Kurubas have a major stake. While the party is trying to woo the Kurubas by building statues and naming infrastructure projects after Rayanna, it is trying to win over the Nayak community by honouring the legacy of Valmiki Maharishi and the Vokkaligas by commemorating Kempe Gowda, the king who is credited for the development of modern Bengaluru.

The BJP has been trying to woo the Kurubas, spread across north Karnataka and the old Mysuru region, for close to a decade but had failed due to Congress’ mass leader Siddaramaiah. However, the Congress failed to recognise Sangolli Rayanna’s contributions and the BJP is trying to cash in on this aspect.

BJP insiders say Sangolli Rayanna is the perfect icon for winning over a chunk of Kuruba youths and defeat the Congress in the Kuruba-dominated assembly constituencies because Rayanna is hugely popular in the community and a symbol of its cultural and historical identity.

“The Sangolli Rayanna issue has been raked to woo the Kuruba voters, who are mainly behind Siddaramaiah. The BJP government wants to bring the Kurubas into its fold by appropriating Sangolli Rayanna,” BP Mahesh Chandra Guru, social activist and former professor at Mysuru University, told The Federal.

“Rayanna fought against the British valiantly for the Motherland and his ideals are worth emulating, but he shouldn’t be turned into a political plank. As far as reaching out to Kurubas is considered, any government can work for the community by ensuring economic stability, instead of raising statues of Rayanna. The present government is just trying to divide the Kurubas and won’t succeed in its plan,” he added.

While the BJP made several promises to honour the legacy of Rayanna, it has not been able to meet all of them. The party has not yet named the Belagavi Airport after Rayanna and a building a residential school, Sangolli Rayanna Military School, in his memory at a cost of Rs 184 crore, remains a promise.

But the BJP-led central government did name the Bengaluru railway station after Rayanna in 2016. The statue near Khoday Circle in Bengaluru was unveiled by then CM BS Yediyurappa in 2010.

While the BJP has a few Kuruba leaders, including its state president and former minister KS Eshwarappa, MTB Nagaraj and BA Basavaraju, who BJP poached from the Congress, and Raghunath Rao Malkapure — who is being given importance by the party because of his Kuruba credentials — none of them are mass leaders like Siddaramaiah.

Eshwarappa led the demand for the inclusion of Kurubas in the ST category, which was rejected by the Centre in 2020. Earlier in 2016, KS Eshwarappa formed the Sangolli Rayanna Brigade to raise his stature in the community and convey his importance to the BJP’s national leadership.

Even though the effort did not help raise Eshwarappa’s stature much, the BJP tried to use the Sangolli Rayanna Brigade to consolidate the Kuruba voters. To checkmate the move, Siddaramaiah, who was then chief minister, established Kranti Veera Sangolli Rayanna Shaurya Academy on 100 acres of land in Rayanna’s hometown Sangolli.

Legacy claimants

The desperation to claim Rayanna’s legacy has almost set a cat-and-mouse game amid the Congress and the BJP.

During the 2021 Karnataka-Maharashtra border clashes as Rayanna statue at Peeranwadi in Belagavi came under attack as Maratha protesters wanted a Shivaji statue to be installed at the site, the ruling BJP government arranged a new Rayanna statue at the same spot.

While it was the BJP-led Centre that named the Bengaluru railway station after Rayanna, the proposal had first come from Siddaramaraiah. Not ready to concede his hold over the community, Siddaramaraiah on January 27 unveiled a statue of Sangolli Rayanna in Mysuru. Recently, he unveiled a similar statue at Domlur in Bengaluru.

While Rayanna was a Kuruba, Kittur Rani Chennamma, hailed from the Lingayat community.

The heroism of both, though being used today for political brownie points, is legendary for the heroism it holds and inspires.

The heroics of Rayanna and Chennamma

Born on August 15, 1798, in a village called Sangolli in Karnataka’s Bailhongal district, was a warrior of the Kuruba tribe.

Sangolli Rayanna is often referred to as krantiveera, which in Kannada means legendary warrior. Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna was the army chief of the kingdom of Kittoor, then ruled by Rani Chennamma. Rayanna was one of the most prominent soldiers of Kittoor, who fought against the British East India Company till his last breath.

Sangolli was very famous in the area for producing wrestlers. Young men from all the neighbouring villages used to come to Sangolli to learn the traditional style of exercise like dands and baithks, a physical exercise which involves placing hands on the ground and putting body weight on them, sit-ups, squats. They also learnt sword fighting, target shooting, catapult and spear throwing. Rayanna has mastered all the arts pretty early in life, emerging as an accomplished warrior.

Kittoor, on the other hand, was known for its riches and wealth, with people leading a peaceful and prosperous life. Plunderers of resources, the British set their gaze on Kittoor soon enough. After the death of Mallasarjan, the ruler of the kingdom, the Rani Chennamma, who had no children, was responsible for leading Kittoor. To defend his land, Rayanna joined the ranks of Rani Chennamma’s army and soon rose to be its chief.

In collusion with the landlords, the British began to usurp land from small landholders and exploiting them. This pushed many people into poverty. As the British began to usurp land of the poor in the region, Rayanna’s anger towards them grew. Rayanna soon built a team of his own to fight against the landlords who were exploiting the poor in collusion with the British. Guerrilla tactics were used to confiscate and burn the land documents of landowners made surreptitiously by hoodwinking the poor people of the region. The money taken from them was distributed among the poor, who it actually belonged to.

The villagers were also encouraged not pay any kind of taxes. Angered at this, the British invaded Kittoor on October 21, 1824. Rani Chennamma opened the fort gate and unleashed the power of her force against the invaders. The soldiers of Kittoor advanced under the leadership of Rayanna, Chennabasavanna and Balappa, two other bravehearts who were part of the contingent. A bullet fired from Balappa’s kovi (gun) knocked down a British officer. A soldier chopped off and raised the officer’s head using his sword. The sight sent a shiver down the spines of the British army personnel forcing them to hurriedly retreat.
Shaken by the incident, the British thought if they did not bring Rani Chennamma under control, rulers in other states may also rise against the occupation. They regrouped and with more men and muscle power, launched another attack on the fort. This time their advanced weaponry helped them win the battle and capture both Ranu Chennamma and Rayanna.

After a brief period of holding them captive, the British administration decided to release both, but a sinister plan was afoot to finish off Rayanna whose heroics had caused a huge loss to the scrupulous zamindaars and indirectly to the British. Stealthily, the British bribed Rayanna’s relative Lakshmana.

Once while going for a bath, Rayanna handed over his sword to Lakshmana. The British attacked Rayanna at this point since he was unarmed. Even though Rayanna urged Lakshmana to give back his sword, the latter did not oblige. The British managed to overpower and capture him. By this time they had also once again taken Rani Chennamma as a captive.

On January 26, 1831, Rayanna was hanged from a banyan tree in Nandigama village of Belgaum district. Before the execution, when the English officers asked what his last wish was, Rayanna said, “I want to be born again in India.”

Although Rayanna’s sacrifice for the nation was exemplary, it received political recognition only recently. But for the people of the region, Rayanna remained a hero worth worshipping. Kuruba women tie cradles around banyan tree in hope for a good-hearted and brave son like Rayanna. Many ballads and folk tales abound the region passing on stories of his heroism and patriotism.

While historians say Chennamma died in prison due to ailments, folk songs have a different story to tell. It is believed she died by consuming the diamond in her ring because she could not take the news of the death of Rayanna.

“Sangolli Rayanna goes beyond any caste or community. He was a true national hero and limiting him to any caste is an injustice to his legacy. Sangolli Rayanna has followers not just in Karnataka, but in Maharashtra too,” professor BK Ravi of Bengaluru University told The Federal.

Sadly, some are honouring his sacrifice – for the votes of his community who cherish his legacy.