Janata Dal(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda has been fond of using phrases like raj dharma and Lakshman rekha every time he wanted to beat the coalition partner, the BJP, into submission. With the decision of the JD(S) to field its own candidate in the Ullal assembly byelection — which might help the opposition Congress — the state BJP leaders had a chance to turn around and ask Mr Gowda whether he was following the raj dharma in letting down its partner.  But the docile state BJP leaders, in their keenness not to displease Mr Gowda before the transfer of power in October, have been conspicuously silent. After all, during the Chamundeshwari byelection contested by Mr Siddaramaiah, which was a prestigious fight for Mr Gowda and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, the BJP had stepped back and allowed the JD(S) to take him on directly. It turned out to be a real close contest with Mr Siddaramaiah winning by a small margin of 257 votes.
Ullal in Dakshina Kannada district has been a Congress stronghold represented by Mr U T Fareed for four terms. In the byelection to be held on June 2 — caused by Mr Fareed’s death — the Congress is trying to garner sympathy votes by fielding his son, Mr U T Khader, in this predominantly Muslim-dominated constituency. The BJP has put up Mr Chandrashekar Uchil, who had lost by a narrow margin of about 6,000 votes in the last election in 2004. After dilly-dallying for days, the JD(S) has put up a political novice, Mr Abubakar Natekal. The party insists that he is a serious candidate, though his job might be only to split the votes.
The lack of understanding might have come as a disappointment to the BJP leaders, but now they will be hoping that the JD(S) candidate, also being a Muslim, will eat into Mr Khader’s vote bank and help the BJP win. It may turn out to be wishful thinking on the part of the BJP as Dakshina Kannada district, including Ullal, has been completely polarised after the recent wave of communal incidents. The riots which lasted nearly two months, allegedly at the behest of local Sangh Parivar leaders, have left deep scars on the minds of people, especially those belonging to the minority community and the election may give an opportunity to them to put their tormentors in place.