BJP hits pause button on hardline Hindutva?

Bengaluru: The appointment of BY Vijayendra as the BJP state president and R Ashoka as the Leader of the Opposition indicates an apparent shift away for the party from hardline Hindutva politics in Karnataka.

Vijayendra and Ashoka are ideological moderates unlike their party colleagues such as CT Ravi, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal and V Sunil Kumar who are staunch saffron stormtroopers.

Ravi was an aspirant to the post that Vijayendra — veteran BS Yediyurappa's son — now occupies. Yatnal and Kumar were probables to lead the Opposition.

Apparently, a survey commissioned by the BJP after its Assembly election debacle showed that an 'overemphasis' on Hindutva contributed to the party's drubbing in Karnataka, a state that has not, at least so far, shown much appetite for the politics of polarisation. 

By appointing Vijayendra, the party is sending out a signal that it has not sidelined Yediyurappa, who has mostly steered clear of Hindutva politics. With Ashoka, the party is going for soft Hindutva.

"One survey highlighted that the overemphasis on hardline Hindutva yielded a good share of votes only in the coastal and Malnad regions, which wasn't enough," a party source said. 

Another source close to Yediyurappa said other surveys showed that sidelining senior leaders like Yediyurappa had also cost the party dearly. “The booth-level survey clearly indicated that Yediyurappa is the only leader who still appeals to the masses cutting across regions. This explains why the central leadership, which did not yield to leaders like Vasundhara Raje in Rajasthan and Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh, had to compromise with Yediyurappa by appointing his son Vijayendra as the state president,” the source explained.

A senior political analyst on the condition of anonymity pointed out that the BJP national leadership has realised that the party is facing voter fatigue and that the 'TINA' (There Is No Alternative) factor is its only saving grace.

However, another analyst said that the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya would set the trend ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. “If hardline Hindutva kicks off at that time, it will reflect in Karnataka, too. But as of now, the party is playing safe by accommodating two dominant castes that have traditionally decided the fate of state political landscape," the analyst said.