Naari Shakti: Will Shobha return to Karnataka politics?

If speculation in political circles is to be believed, then Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje could make a comeback in Karnataka politics after a gap of nine years.

Shobha’s name has gained prominence in the last couple of weeks amid talk of a major revamp in the state BJP.

While it is unclear what role Shobha would fulfil, the grapevine has it that she is one of the contenders to replace Nalin Kumar Kateel as the BJP state president. Or, she may be a chief ministerial candidate if the party top brass decides to replace Basavaraj Bommai.

From the BJP’s point of view, Shobha ticks several boxes: a 55-year-old firebrand Vokkaliga woman who grew up in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) stable, postgraduate degrees in social work and sociology with organisational and administrative experience.

“These are mere rumours,” Shobha told DH when contacted and said she is not aware of discussions about her return to Karnataka politics.

BJP veteran Ramachandra Gowda, who nurtured Shobha during her formative years, vouched for her return. “I have heard talk that she might be made the state president. She deserves it,” he said. “She will do justice and handle it very carefully,” he added.

According to sources, one view within the BJP is that Shobha’s return to Karnataka can woo women, a constituency that is almost half of the state’s electorate. With Shobha at the helm of affairs, the BJP leadership hopes to see the naari shakti vote for the party as they did in the recent elections held in five states, including Uttar Pradesh.

Shobha fits the scheme of things for the BJP, which is said to considering a Vokkaliga to become the party president in order to make inroads into that community. Shobha is no stranger to the BJP’s organisational ecosystem: she was a Sangh Parivar full-timer in Mangaluru before being made in charge of the party’s Mahila Morcha.

As Yeshwantpur MLA, Shobha was minister for energy, food & civil supplies and rural development in the previous BJP government (2008-13). Loyal to B S Yediyurappa, she quit the saffron party and joined his outfit KJP only to lose the 2013 polls from Rajajinagar. Since 2014, Shobha is the Udupi-Chikmagalur MP.

Another view is that the party may not “expose” Shobha right now, with elections just a year away.