BJP counts caste leaders to scale JD (S) roadblock in Karnataka
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By Manish Anand
New Delhi, April 2: For the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Janata Dal (Secular) remains the principal roadblock in Karnataka to retain power. The saffron outfit strategists believe that Congress will hold on its core support base, and the ruling party in the state will need to break into the JD (S) catchment areas to stay in power.
The JD (S) has polled a little over 18 per cent votes in the 2018 Assembly elections. Congress had polled over 38 per cent votes and was ahead of the BJP which has 36 per cent votes in Karnataka.
The BJP strategists also believe that the national leaders may not help much to help the party enter the pocket borough of the JD (S) in the Old Mysuru region. “The BJP will be banking on its local faces from the Vokkaliga community, which is the principal constituency of the JD (S),” said a senior BJP functionary from Karnataka.
The JD (S) in the last three state polls bagged 38 (2018), 40 (2013), and 28 (2008) Assembly seats. Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah in a television conclave recently ruled out any tacit or behind the scene outreach to the JD (S). But the maverick H D Kumaraswamy, the former chief minister of the state and the JD (S) leader, has been seen much in action in the Opposition camp, sharing dais with Chief Ministers K Chandrashekhar (Telangana), Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), and MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu).
“The BJP will be heavily banking on the Vokkaliga leaders from within the Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, which include the likes of CN Aswatha Narayan, K Sudhakar and R Ashok,” added the BJP functionary.
The BJP is also counting on the campaign committee management head and Union Minister Shobha Karadjale for appeal in the Vokkaliga community. Besides, the BJP is also recalling the forgotten former chief minister Sadanand Gowda, who is also a Vokkaliga.
But the BJP leaders admit that they don’t have leaders who actually have the appeal to match the stronghold of former Prime Minister HDS Deve Gowda and his party in the Vokkaliga community, which is said to constitute 13.5 per cent of the electorate in the state.
“The JD (S) is building the campaign theme that the time has come for a chief minister from the Vokkaliga community. This will pose a challenge for the BJP, for the party’s unequivocal stand to stick with a Lingayata face for the post of the chief minister in the state,” said another BJP functionary.
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