In the old Mysore belt, which accounts for a majority of the seats in the Karnataka Assembly, the contest in Varuna is of political significance. Congress Campaign Committee Chairman Siddaramaiah, who won from neighbouring Chamundeshwari seat against heavy odds posed by Janata Dal (S) supremo H D Deve Gowda and son Kumaraswamy, is seeking a return this time from Varuna, newly formed from parts of Chamundeshwari and T Narasipur constituencies.

Victory is crucial

Siddu was touted as chief minister material even before he joined Congress, when he was still in the JD(S) as its party chief and deputy chief minister. His win this time is politically crucial to him, and a prestige fight for the Congress.

His campaign trail looks more like a victory lap. A giant garland draped on the bonnet of his SUV, flowers showering on him all along the route, cheering crowds everywhere, a fagged-out but beaming Siddu, and of course, his Man Friday H C Mahadevappa, the ex-MLA from T Narasipur, yelling to his supporters to ‘do unto Siddu what you would do unto me.’

"We are one," Mahadevappa tells his voters who have stood by him since 1985, but are now in Varuna constituency after delimitation. Biligere, Kasaba and Chaatra hoblis of T Narasipur, which traditionally gave Mahadevappa a lead, are all in Varuna.

There are other reasons for Siddu's smugness. The Lingayat and Kuruba votes are almost equal - 50,000 and 45,000 respectively - in this constituency of 1.87 lakh voters, and the latter chunk belongs entirely to Siddu, a Kuruba himself.

Siddu claims he will get Lingayat votes as well, though his main opponent of the BJP, L Revannasiddaiah, retired police officer turned politician who worked for him in Chamundeshwari, is from that community.

Revannasiddaiah himself must be in a bind as he had canvassed for Siddu in Chamundeshwari on a ‘non-caste basis’, and his joining the BJP just before filing his nomination for Varuna was an impulsive action after being denied a ticket by Congress. Asked about his anti-communal stance and new-found BJP tag, he shot back, "Ask Siddaramaiah what he said about the Congress in the past".

Lingayat community elders have not taken Revannasiddaiah's BJP foray kindly. "It is like cooking food in your house and going to eat in somebody's else's house. We (Lingayats) are known for Dasoha (giving) and not seeking," says Basavanna of Keelanapura, gesturing with his down-turned palm.

Another Lingayat candidate, Gurupadaswamy of BSP, is also in the fray. Revu claims  his community will vote for the winner.

Dalit votes

The deciding factor though, are the Dalit and Naika votes. JD(S) and BJP may try to break Congress' Dalit vote bank with little success. Revannasiddaiah, however, is confident. He cites the entry of prominent Dalits like Subash Bharani and C Ramesh into BJP.

Naika votes, numbering about 23,000, are likely to be shared by all three major parties with a major chunk going to JD (S) candidate, H V Krishnaswamy, who hails from the community. This again means advantage Siddu.
Muslims are with the Congress and Uppars may follow suit, as for the first time, an Uppar woman has been made the Mysore Zilla Panchayat president by the Congress.

As things stand, except Siddu, all major party contestants are non-politicians. But politics often makes strange bedfellows.