In Bellary, political fortunes at stake as BJP’s Sriramulu takes on Congress’ Tukaram

Bharatiya Janata Party Bellary Lok Sabha candidate B Sriramulu is hopeful that “he who resurrected Sri Rama in Ayodhya will ensure his political rebirth in this election.” The defeat in the Bellary Rural Assembly constituency in 2023 seems to have devastated him. In every public rally, Sriramulu has been emotionally appealing to voters to ensure he is not pushed to political oblivion.

On the contrary, Congress candidate and four-time MLA from Sandur E Tukaram is in two minds: whether to fight or not to fight wholeheartedly. Party sources say that either way, he will be a winner; as his party’s high command has assured that if he wins the election, his daughter will be given a chance to become Sandur MLA and if he is defeated he will be made minister in Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet. Party sources say Tukaram is more interested in state politics than “shifting to Delhi.”

Political observers say in spite of Tukaram’s reluctance, Bellary will witness a closely contested election. BJP has been holding Bellary seat since 2004, except for six months in 2019 when Congress’ Ugrappa won the bypoll. Sriramulu represented the constituency between 2014 and 2019 before vacating the seat to contest Assembly polls.

The Congress has a slight edge in numbers over the BJP given six of the eight assembly constituencies that come under the Bellary Lok Sabha seat are held by the Congress. Secondly, the party has been aggressively trumpeting the “successful” implementation of five guarantee schemes with the hope that women voters (9.45 lakh are female voters among 18.65 lakh electors in the constituency) may repay their “debt” to the Congress government.

The deciding factor for Tukaram’s victory could be the anger of voters, especially members of the ST community, against Sriramulu. Both candidates belong to the Valmiki community.

“Sriramulu’s contribution towards our community’s development is zero. He was an MP and a minister, and held top posts in BJP, yet he never helped members of our community or implemented any development work in the district. He becomes inaccessible once he gets power,” said Kumaraswamy, a resident of Bandri village in Sandur taluk. Similar sentiments echoed across the constituency. Even the hardcore BJP followers say they are voting for Sriramulu only to ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes back to power.

The reason why Tukaram will not have a smooth sail, is the fact that a majority of voters outside Sandur do not know him and his development works. The Congress is a divided house in Ballari. While District Minister Nagendra wants Tukaram to shift to the national level so that his hold on the district continues, the leaders in the anti-Nagendra camp are not campaigning for the candidate wholeheartedly.

Modi factor

The major roadblock for the Congress victory in Bellary segment would be the Modi factor. While one may not see an outright Modi-wave like in 2014 or 2019, there is an undercurrent among the privileged communities, youths and rural men who want Modi to be PM again. “The election campaign till April 28 was different and the scenario after Modi held a public rally in Hosapete would be completely different. He could easily swing 5% to 10% of votes in favour of BJP,” said a Congress office-bearer.

According to an intelligence report, Modi could be a factor in at least five of the eight assembly seats and his Hosapete rally could consolidate BJP votes in Hosapete, Ballari city and rural, Kampli, Hoovinahadagali and Hagaribommanahalli.

Despite Modi’s appeal and popularity, Sriramulu is finding it difficult to convince the voters to support him. The family feud between the Reddy brothers (Gali Janardhana, Somashekar and Karunakar) is impacting Sriramulu’s campaigning as Somashekar and his followers are not participating in rallies attended by Janardhana’s wife Aruna Lakshmi.

There is also a sympathy factor that is working for Sriramulu. “Known devil is better than unknown angel. We at least know who Sriramulu is. He has been saying that he has realised his previous mistakes and would not repeat them,” said Basavaraj C, a mechanic at Moka village in Ballari.

Another factor that could help Sriramulu is the fact that the majority of the public sees a vacuum in the opposition camp.

“Country needs a strong leader to lead us against the external threats, national security and development. Who’s in the opposition ranks capable of doing this? We need Modi for the country and Siddaramaiah for the state,” said Baba Pasha, an autorickshaw driver in Kampli.