Political parties in Karnataka are trying to woo the community as assembly elections approach
Political parties in Karnataka are trying to woo the community as assembly elections approach
some effort to Votes are polarized on communal lines in Karnataka, which is heading towards the assembly elections barely a year from now. While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to reap a good harvest by consolidation of Hindu votesThe two opposition parties – the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) – have separately supported the Muslim community on a number of issues, whether Muslim girls are not being allowed to wear the hijab in classes or Muslim traders are not allowed Doing. Set up shops during festivals in Hindu temples. There is a political unity between the two to promote their “Muslim-friendly” image.
Meanwhile, players like All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) are keen to carve their place in the political arena. Though AIMIM and SDPI have been provisional candidates, they can become “spoilers” for non-BJP entities like in other states. With the arrival of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the tussle for the electoral fray will intensify.
The Congress and the JD(S) are in a race to give political posts to Muslim leaders as the area is crowded. The JD(S) appointed former Union minister CM Ibrahim as its state unit president. Congress has appointed UT Khadar as deputy leader of the party in the assembly. It has elevated Mohd Nalapad, considered a protégé of state Congress president DK Shivakumar, as the president of the party’s youth wing.
Muslims constitute about 13% of the state’s population. In the 2018 elections, the Congress and the JD(S) fielded 17 Muslim candidates, mostly from northern Karnataka. While seven Congress candidates were successful, the JD(S) secured one vacancy. In the 2021 by-elections held in Sindgi and Hangal constituencies, the JD(S) fielded Nazia Shakeel Ahmed Angadi and Niaz Sheikh, respectively. Both their deposits were gone. The ruling BJP, which relies on a Hindu vote bank, did not field a single Muslim candidate in the 2018 or by-elections.
The JD(S) argues that its Muslim candidates lost the 2018 assembly polls because of the “false narrative” of then chief minister Siddaramaiah branding the JD(S) as “BJP’s B team”. The Congress leader alleged that the JD(S) tried to divide Muslim votes to help the BJP. However, it was a different story that after a fractured mandate, Congress and JD(S) came together to form a coalition government which eventually fell.
For the next elections, the JD(S) is taking credit for providing 4% reservation in education and jobs to Muslims and says it has every right to take votes of the minority community. But it was the Congress government led by Devraj Urs in 1977 that was the first to pass an order providing quota for Muslims under the Other Backward Classes.
This was challenged in the High Court and commissions were set up to review the OBC list. Finally, in the process of fixing the OBC quota at 27% as per the Mandal Commission case, the Muslim quota in Category II (B) was fixed at 4% in 1995. The same quota continues even today.
Traditionally, Muslims have been voting for the Congress. There is a perception among political parties that Muslims vote collectively strategically to defeat the BJP. With the BJP and right wing organizations unlikely to take up communally sensitive issues till the assembly elections, it will be interesting to see whom the Muslims of Karnataka will look to protect their interests. With more than one contender to claim their votes, it is a contentious question whether the consolidation of the votes will take place.
(Nagesh.p@thehindu.co.in)