Bengaluru civic elections nothing short of Assembly poll battle, says BJP's Ram Madhav

Bengaluru: The upcoming Bengaluru civic body elections are “no less than an Assembly battle” for Karnataka, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) veteran Ram Madhav, whom the BJP has picked as its supervisor for the crucial polls, said on Wednesday.

Elections to five municipal corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) are set to take place before June 30 as directed by the Supreme Court.

While Madhav has been appointed as the election in-charge, former Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia and Borivali (Mumbai) MLA Sanjay Upadhyay have been picked to work with him.

“Local body elections are fought and won purely on local agendas and the strength and hard work of the local karyakartas,” Madhav said in a tweet. “With an electorate of over 9 million and 369 corporation wards, it is no less than an assembly battle for the state."

Madhav's appointment signals the seriousness the BJP has attached to the polls in Bengaluru, where the saffron party has had electoral domination.

“Madhav’s appointment is a new experiment considering the importance of the elections. Of late, elections to big cities like Mumbai have become as important as Assembly polls,” senior BJP lawmaker S Suresh Kumar said.

An RSS product, Madhav was brought into the BJP in 2014, with Assam being one of his early assignments. By 2016, due to his contributions and entry of Congress strongman Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP formed its first government under Sarbananda Sonowal in Assam. Subsequently, the BJP formed governments in other states in that region.

In 2020, when then BJP chief JP Nadda formed a new team, Madhav was sent back to the RSS. The former national general secretary returned to BJP when he was put in charge of the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly polls in 2024 in which the party emerged as the second largest, improving its tally to 29 seats.

The BJP is also banking on Madhav's image as a public intellectual who enjoys a following among urban audiences. "[Madhav] represents the more thoughtful wing of the Hindutva movement," journalist Raju Narisetti wrote in Forbes.

Political analyst Venkatesh Thogarighatta said a heavyweight like Madhav can navigate the faction-ridden BJP better. "The BJP can project a good result in GBA as a referendum against the Congress government," he said. "It also builds momentum for other local body polls lined up and keep the BJP election machinery well-oiled for the 2028 Assembly elections."