BJP internal meet discusses strategies for K'taka polls

In an internal meeting held earlier this week, senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took stock of the party’s preparations for the upcoming elections in Karnataka, with a key part of the discussion focusing on the strategy to win the Vokkaliga and Lingayat votes.

The leadership also discussed on how to make foray into the old Mysuru region region, and whether to continue with Nalin Kateel as the state president.

This apart, the party also deliberated on the resurgence of Congress with Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra drawing unexpectedly large in the state. Leaders said that the optics of both former chief minister Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar coming together with Gandhi during his rally, burying their differences, has sent out a message of an united front, and not a divided house.

Discussions in the meeting, attended by party president J P Nadda, Union Home minister Amit Shah, state in-charge and sanghtan mantri among others, also centred around how the BJP should work around the Vokkaliga as well as Lingayat communities, as the support of both or either are crucial for any party to win in the state. The Janata Dal (Secular) holds sway among the Vokkaligas, especially in the old Mysuru region where the BJP did not fare well in the last elections in 2018.

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The party is keen on the continued support of the Lingayat community. According to sources, the top leadership had consciously picked B S Yediyurappa to be sent to Gujarat as one of its three central observers after its electoral win.

A critical point that has emerged from the meeting is that the BJP should keep a close watch on the JD(S) in the run-up to the polls. Incidentally, on the day of the meeting, former PM and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda met Prime Minister Modi to bring to his notice the injustice meted out to Karnataka in inter-state water disputes, among other issues.

According to sources, the BJP leadership discussed the role of the JD(S) in pre-poll and post-poll scenarios. In 2018, the majority mark of 113 seats eluded the BJP, as it stopped at 104 seats. Subsequently, the JD(S) and Congress formed a coalition government led by H D Kumaraswamy. However, in the run-up to the 2018 polls, Rahul Gandhi had called JD(S) the “B team” of the BJP, a remark that Gowda had resented.

Discussions were held on the state party president, with Kateel’s tenure coming to an end soon. Leaders discussed whether they should continue with him as the head of the state unit, or change keeping in mind caste equations.

The BJP has taken out Karnataka Jan Samvad rallies in the last few years, as well as the Centre's move to increase the state's quota in educational institutions and government jobs for Scheduled Castes from 15 per cent to 17 per cent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 per cent to 7 per cent are part of the steps they have taken to woo the electorate, said party MP C T Ravi.

“Several of our development projects have been received well by the people across various constituencies. And, if you look at the Congress, they now have three camps instead of two – there's now a Kharge camp in addition to the camps of former CM Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar,” said Ravi.