How Congress and BJP-JD(S) combine are battling it out to capture ‘Vokkaliga heartland’

As Karnataka heads into the first of the two-phase Lok Sabha polls on April 26, the reaction in the ‘Vokkaliga heartland’- Old Mysuru region - to the outreach by Congress and BJP-JD(S) combine, is being keenly watched.

In the run-up to both Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, a large part of the political action in Karnataka is consumed by the layered narratives to woo Vokkaligas, the dominant community in the Old Mysuru region, where the JD(S) and its traditional rival Congress rule the roost. However, all efforts by the saffron party to make inroads into Vokkaliga bastion has so far met with limited success.

Of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies, except Chamarajanagar, Kolar and Chitradurga (reserved constituencies), in the remaining 11 constituencies, Vokkaliga candidates are fighting against candidates from other communities too. In four of the 14 constituencies – Hassan, Mandya, Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru North –it is a straight fight between Vokkaliga candidates of Congress and BJP-JD(S) combine. It seems it is inevitable for all three political forces in Karnataka to opt for Vokkaliga candidates in the old Mysuru region to seize the region.

Third generation battle

It is a straight battle between the kin of HD Deve Gowda and former MP late G Puttaswamy Gowda in Hassan. Political clans of Deve Gowda and Puttaswamy Gowda have been fighting electoral battles against each other for the past 40 years and the third generation is now in the fray. Shreyas Patel of Congress and Prajwal Revanna of JD(S) are fighting a battle of supremacy in Hassan, a Vokkaliga bastion.

Realising the anti-incumbency being faced by Prajwal, JD(S) is seeking votes by projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and HD Deve Gowda. However, JD(S) and BJP are worried over the conspicuous absence of BJP leaders Preetham Gowda and AT Ramaswamy at the coordination committee meeting to ensure victory of the alliance candidates. A senior BJP leader told The Federal that a party team in Delhi is keeping a close watch on a few constituencies, where the fight is tough and internal feud grips the party.

Sumalatha’s support for JD(S)

In Mandya, former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is contesting against Venkataramane Gowda (also known as Star Chandru) of Congress. Kumaraswamy now has the BJP’s backing along with notional support extended by sitting independent MP and actor Sumalatha.

In Bengaluru Rural, Deve Gowda’s son-in-law Dr CN Manjunath is fighting a bitter battle against incumbent MP DK Suresh, brother of Deputy CM DK Shivakumar. In Bengaluru North, academician Rajeev Gowda, who belongs to Vokkaliga community, is taking on Shobha Karandlaje of BJP.

In the Udupi-Chikkamgaluru constituency, it is a straight contest between Vokkaliga candidate Jayaprakash Hegde (he belongs to the Bunt community, which is regarded as a Vokkaliga community because of landholdings) and Kota Shrinivasa Poojari, who belongs to the OBC community.

In Dakshina Kannada constituency, R Padmaraj of Congress, who belongs to the OBC community, is taking on Captain Brijesh Chowta, from the Bunt community. Interestingly, Tumkur is witnessing a fight between the dominant Veerashaiva Lingayat community and Vokkaliga. V Somanna (Lingayat) of BJP and Mudduhanume Gowda (Vokkaliga) of Congress are pitted against each other. The big question here is: Can Somanna trump Gowda in a caste fight in Tumkur?

Vokkaliga bastion

According to a Congress functionary, who is a member of the party’s research team, the idea of fielding Vokkaliga candidates is to garner a significant chunk of the community votes apart from consolidating the party’s AHINDA (OBCs Dalits and Minorities) base.

Vokkaligas constitute 25 to 30 per cent of the electorate in all the Lok Sabha constituencies which are going to polls in the first phase. “Share of Vokkaliga votes is relatively less in Chitradurga reserved constituency as compared to 14 other constituencies,” he said. Even in the two of the three reserved constituencies – Kolar and Chamarajanagar – the influence of Vokkaliga voters is as important as other communities.

Battle of prestige

The ruling Congress, which aims to secure at least 20 of the 28 seats, has fielded eight Vokklaliga candidates, while the BJP-JD(S) alliance has nominated six candidates from this community.

Besides securing more seats, it has become a prestige battle for Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar. He has to prove to the Congress high command that he is the undisputed leader of Vokkaliga community in Karnataka, just like BS Yediyurappa who claims to the Lingayat face of the BJP.

According to a senior Congress leader, Shivakumar will not leave any stone unturned to make the Congress nominee win at Mandya to demonstrate his “hold” over the Vokkaliga vote bank and enhance his credentials for the chief minister’s job. Humbling former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy in Mandya and defeating NDA candidate Dr CN Manjunath in Bengaluru Rural seat is the test of fire for Shivakumar, as his brother and incumbent MP DK Suresh is taking Dr Manjunath head-on.

Meanwhile, winning Mysuru and Chamarajanagar constituency is question of survival for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who wants to complete his five-year term in the office.

Existential crisis of JD(S)

The JD(S), battling an existential crisis, has started making all-out efforts to impress upon the people of the state, especially in the old Mysuru region.

It aligned with BJP to protect the party from getting decimated under the influence of the two national parties. The JD(S) has experienced upheavals in the past as stalwarts like Siddaramaiah quit the party along with his supporters and joined the Congress. Even after the exit of Siddaramaiah, JD(S) is enjoying the backing of Vokkaligas because of affinity towards former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.

HDK seeks Kuruba support

Besides the Vokkaligas, Kumaraswamy is trying to garner every single vote from other communities, as he is not undermining his opponent Venkataramane Gowda of the Congress.

He is making an effort to please Kuruba community leader and former JD(S) president AH Vishwanath. He is learnt to have met Vishwanath, a BJP MLC now, to seek the support of the Kuruba community.

According to sources, an approximate 45,000 Kuruba community votes are there in the KR Nagar Assembly seat (which Vishwanath represented once), which is a part of Mandya Lok Sabha seat, after delimitation in 2008. According to an estimate there are over 1.5 lakh Kuruba community votes in Mandya district and their support is critical for any candidate to emerge victorious.

Bid to woo Vokkaligas

However, wary of the BJP-JD(S) pact, Congress leaders are making a bid for Vokkaliga outreach.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah led Congress candidates, including Kolar’s KV Gautam to Adi Chunchanagiri mutt head Sri Nirmalananda Swami, the religious head of the community, for blessings at the mutt’s Bengaluru facility. It is said that the Congress leaders convinced Nirmalananda Swami that the party offered opportunity to eight Vokkaliga candidates, while BJP fielded only six Vokkaliga candidates. “By and large, the Vokkaliga community has voted democratically for all parties in the recent past. In the recent assembly election, a considerable section favoured Congress,” said Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda recently.

Shivakumar cautions workers

Meanwhile, Karnataka Congress chief Shivakumar cautioned party workers and leaders against working for the BJP-JD(S) combine in any manner.

He also threatened them of expelling such leaders and workers, if found guilty. According to Congress sources Siddaramaiah and his deputy Shivakumar are working in tandem and this will prove advantageous for the party in the first phase. “They anticipate a significant improvement in the party’s performance from the single seat in Bengaluru Rural constituency in 2019. They hope to cross the double-digit mark this time,” said a senior Congress leader.

On the other hand, BJP MLA ST Somashekar who openly rebelled against the party leadership in Karnataka, is seeking votes for Congress candidate of Bengaluru North seat Rajeev Gowda.