The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has laid a robust emphasis on the caste calculus to maximise its electoral gains in the upcoming Assembly polls in Karnataka, which incidentally is the first south Indian state to welcome the saffron party.
The party is leaving no stone unturned to take into confidence the Vokkaligas and Lingayats, who are among the most politically influential communities in the state. Both communities share an agrarian background. While Vokkaligas form 14 per cent of the electoral population, Lingayats account for 17 per cent.
In a bid to cater to the demands from these communities for an increase in reservation, the Basavaraj Bommai-led government recently ousted Muslims from the OBC reservation quota (4 per cent) and co-opted Vokkaligas (2 per cent) and Lingayats (2 per cent) into it by carving out two new reservation categories "2C and 2D" for these castes. The move is being seen as a desperate attempt to placate the two communities.
The saffron party has been making consistent efforts to endear itself to these two communities. It may be recalled that the Karnataka government set up the Veerashaiva Lingayat Development Authority in 2020, while it followed it up with the Vokkaliga Development Board a year later. When the BJP government came to power in 2019, it appointed three deputy Chief Ministers which included One Dalit, one Vokkaliga and one Lingayat leader. Also, when B S Yediyurappa was removed as the Chief Minister, it strategically replaced him with Basavaraj Bommai, another Lingayat leader.
The introduction of ‘Uri Gowda-Nanje Gowda’ characters
As for the Vokkaligas who have been largely backed by JD(S), the BJP made inroads into some heartland constituencies like Hassan and KR Pet last time. This time, the drive is on not just to retain these seats but gain some more in light of the BJP's determination to hold on to Karnataka with the 2024 Lok Sabha polls bearing down. Understanding the need for a new narrative, the BJP introduced ‘Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda’ in the political arena. According to the BJP and a section of right-wing activists, these two Vokkaliga chieftains killed the eighteenth-century ruler Tipu Sultan, a claim rejected by historians.
Pitting the Vokkaligas against the Muslim leader is an apparent effort by the BJP to cast the Hindutva net wider into regions it had not forayed before. However, the narrative soon ran out of steam. Interestingly, the Adichunchanagiri Mutt seer Nirmalananda Swamy intervened, asking the BJP leaders to put an end to this narrative as it could not be proven historically.
The inauguration of Kempegowda and Akkamahadevi statues
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a 108-foot-tall bronze statue of Kempegowda, the founder of Bengaluru and a Vokkaliga, last November at the Bengaluru airport, a move seen as an acknowledgement of Vokkaligas’ contribution to the development of Bengaluru.
Subsequently, in March, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai inaugurated the 65-foot-tall statue of Akkamahadevi in Shikaripura. The seer holds a prominent position in the Lingayat Shaiva literature of Karnataka.
More representations to Vokkaliga-Lingayat candidates
The BJP has also given more tickets to aspiring candidates from the two communities, an obvious attempt to send home the message that it respects the two communities and ultimately, an attempt to win their confidence.
In the Kittur Karnataka regions, the BJP has fielded at least 33 Lingayats and in the Old Mysuru region, it has fielded at least 41 Vokkaligas.
The rebels
In spite of such largesse doled out to Vokkaligas and Lingayats, the BJP has faced opposition in the form of disgruntled leaders quitting the party for not getting tickets. Former Dy CM Laxman Savadi and former CM Jagadish Shettar are two prime examples.
But the BJP is trying to calm the storm. Not only has Shettar been replaced by Lingayat candidate Mahesh Tenginkayi, BJP state President Nalin Kumar Kateel has also reiterated that the party has given three Lingayat CMs and will be the only party in which a Lingayat can become a CM if BJP returns to power in the coming polls.
(With DHNS inputs)
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