Congress, BJP look to secure voter base in Karnataka

According to sources, promoting Yediyurappa was crucial as the BJP feared a backlash from the Lingayat community

As parties intensify campaigns to woo voters ahead of Assembly polls, both the BJP and the Congress are looking to secure their ‘traditional’ voter base.

The elevation of former chief minister B S Yediyurappa to the BJP’s top decision-making bodies and the government’s decision to construct a Basavanna statue in Vidhana Soudha are seen as the party’s attempts to consolidate its Lingayat base.

On the other hand, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah’s birthday bash was seen as a show of strength with the message that the Congress still enjoys the support of Kurubas and other caste groups in the state.

Simultaneously, Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar has also tried to curry favour with the Vokkaliga community by indirectly pitching himself as the next chief ministerial candidate if the Congress is elected to power.

Read | Kateel calls Siddaramaiah ‘arrogant, atheist Congressman’ over Savarkar comment

According to sources, promoting Yediyurappa — who had almost announced retirement from active politics — was crucial as the BJP feared a backlash from the Lingayat community over his unceremonious exit.

That Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is not seen as a mass leader like Yediyurappa forced the party to retract its assertion that the 2023 elections would be fought under Bommai, an announcement made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself.

Despite replacing a Lingayat with another Lingayat, the exit of Yediyurappa had led to resentment within the caste group, making the BJP jittery.

The party is hoping to offset this by projecting Yediyurappa as a leader with a say in the party’s national affairs. At the Davangere rally to celebrate Siddaramaiah’s 75th birthday — in which former AICC president Rahul Gandhi also participated — the Congress tried to send out the message of unity. The massive turnout was a shot in the arm.

The turnout offered an insight into how the party could fare in the next elections, provided it played its cards right by setting aside infighting among its ranks.

The ambitious Shivakumar, who along with Siddaramaiah is an aspirant for CM post, has been making the ‘Vokkaliga CM’ pitch to the community’s pontiffs, seeking their backing. Voting for the party, he suggested, could ensure another Vokkaliga CM for the state. Shivakumar has continued the tactic at various forums.

This apart, both the parties are planning massive conventions on various caste lines — especially Dalits and OBCs — to seal alliances with these groups as part of their caste calculus.