Various combinations worked for BJP in Sira: N Ravikumar

BJP general secretary N Ravikumar, one of the key poll strategists, tells DH how Sira was won

Statistically, the BJP stood no chance in Sira, a constituency located in the Old Mysuru region of Tumakuru, a fortress of the Congress and JD(S). The party, which had not polled more than 24,000 votes in Sira, won Tuesday against Congress’ veteran TB Jayachandra and Ammajamma of the JD(S). BJP general secretary N Ravikumar, one of the key poll strategists, tells Bharath Joshi how Sira was won.

Here are excerpts from the interview:

Q: It seemed like an impossible seat to win. What was the approach?

A: There are multiple angles. We had neglected the party’s organisation. Starting September 1 and till polling, we were there. The first thing we did was to form committees in each of the 264 booths by roping in people who could perform and identified where we were strong or weak. That created the base. Secondly, we reached out to 22 communities - Kadu Gollas, Kunchitiga Vokkaligas, Kurubas, Bahusar Kshatriyas, Balijas among others - and drummed up support for the BJP. Through these meetings, we reached out to 10,000 people. We also took up the Madalur lake issue, which connected with people. The Gollarahattis and Dalit Colonies do not even have roads. We promised development and told people that they should vote for someone from the ruling party, and vote us out next time if we do not perform.

Q: The Congress wanted to field your candidate Rajesh Gowda. What were your thoughts on that?

A: Maybe they had a report that he would win. Jayachandra is ageing anyway and Gowda is the only young face. But, Gowda joined our party and he got the ticket. Our past candidates BK Manjunath and SR Gowda would not have won. Our candidate had to be a Kunchitiga Vokkaliga and a good one. We zeroed in on Rajesh; his father was also a legislator. So, we were able to put up a fight.

Q: All three candidates were Kunchitiga Vokkaligas, which seems to have split the votes, isn't it?

A: There were 55,000-60,000 Kunchitiga and Hallikara Vokkaliga votes. We got a little less, but we got them all the same. The Congress had its traditional vote bank. They should have won easily with these two, but we managed to break that. There were 35,000 SC (Left) votes - the community our deputy chief minister Govind Karjol belongs to - and 30,000 votes of the Kadu Gollas for whom the government created a development board. These combinations worked for us.

Q: Do you think the JD(S) expected a sympathy wave for its candidate?

A: There was no sympathy simply because the party has not done any good work for the people. Otherwise, they should have polled a good number of votes.