Politics

Two BJP-backed members help SDPI bag Talapady gram panchayat president’s post in Karnataka

August 11, 2023
Bharat Times

Bengaluru: Two defectors of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) helped the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the outlawed Popular Front of India, to win the post of a gram panchayat president in Karnataka.

T. Ismail of the SDPI was chosen Thursday as the president of the Talapady gram panchayat in Dakshina Kannada district. Talapady is located in Ullal, Mangaluru, about 350 km from Bengaluru.

The Congress pounced on the opportunity to take a jibe at the opposition party, tweeting that the BJP loves the SDPI and though the two fought on the outside, they were brothers on the inside. 

While the BJP local unit has acknowledged that two of its members supported the SDPI at Talapady Gram Panchayat, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya has dismissed media reports that there was “a surpise alliance” with the outfit.

BJP’s Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, too, asserted that the “BJP has not supported SDPI or any other party” in the rural election.

The district BJP unit, meanwhile, has acknowledged the development and even escalated the issue to party seniors in Dakshina Kannada. 

Of the 24 members in the Talapady gram panchayat, 13 were backed by the BJP. Ten members had the support of the SDPI while one member aligned with the Congress.

Poised for a comfortable victory, the BJP supporters had brought garlands to celebrate the victory as their presidential nominee Satyaraj had a comfortable majority over its rivals, the Congress and the SDPI.

“One member of the Congress and one from the SDPI were absent for the elections. But two of our members voted for the SDPI,” a BJP worker, directly aware of the developments, told ThePrint.

The cross voting from the BJP brought the numbers down to 11 each, making it a tie. The election official then suggested that the president be picked by a lot. Ismail’s name then came up in the lot. 

“The two members (who cross voted) were Muslims,” another BJP worker from the district told ThePrint.

It is not unusual for candidates in local elections to stitch alliances with rivals at the state or national level. In the southern districts, the BJP has lent its support to the Janata Dal (Secular) in local and state elections to consolidate support and defeat the Congress who they consider a common enemy. Similarly, the JD(S) has returned the favour to the BJP in the northern districts. 

Also Read: SDPI says it will contest 100 seats in Karnataka. Why it’s good news for BJP and bad for Congress 

Politics in coastal Karnataka

Even as the BJP and the SDPI have locked horns in coastal districts of Karnataka, the two have been alleged to work together to split minority votes that would otherwise benefit the Congress.

In the run up to the Karnataka election, there were allegations and counters from both Congress and BJP of allying with the SDPI for political gains.

SDPI national general secretary Elyas Muhammad Thumbe had in March said that his party had an “understanding” with the Congress during the 2018 assembly election.

In mid-2022, a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Mangaluru made allegations against the BJP for funding the SDPI.

“It is very sad that to defeat the Congress politically and become more powerful themselves, a party that has come to power with the support of Hindutva (apparent reference to BJP) the SDPI is being strengthened by giving them money, funding candidates,” Satyajit Surathkal, the Sangh member, told Daijiworld, a news portal, in an interview.

The Congress, too, had accused the BJP of “living off” the SDPI to push its Hindutva agenda in the coastal districts of Karnataka.

(Edited by Tony Rai)

Also Read: Bengaluru contractors accuse Congress govt of corruption in letter to governor — ’10-15% commission’