Why did the BJP choose its rival’s bastion to launch its Karnataka election campaign?

Bengaluru:

With an anti-incumbency wave strengthened by a flood of corruption allegations in Karnataka, the BJP is now focusing on an area that has been a stronghold of its rival Janata Dal (Secular) or JDS – Chamarajanagar district in the old Mysore region – for the elections. Due later this year.

BJP chief JP Nadda today flagged off the party’s first election campaign.Vijay Sankalp Yatra” – planned out of the first four trips From all four corners of the state – from Hennur assembly seat.

The Old Mysore region with 61 assembly seats is a JDS stronghold. The Congress has also been a major force in this region.

In 2018, the BJP performed exceptionally well in the Coastal Karnataka and Mumbai-Karnataka regions. However, it fell short of a clear majority in the old Mysuru region and parts of the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

“It has become almost impossible for BJP to claim victory in the old Mysore region. To strengthen the base, they have started yatra from here. Of course, the focus is on strengthening the Nanjangud and Gundlupet assembly seats And more importantly, the Chamarajanagar assembly seat where we lacked support. Besides, we will gradually move to Mysuru, Mandya and Nanjungadu,” BJP spokesperson S Prakash said.

Chamarajanagar is one of the nine districts of the old Mysore region which includes Mysuru, Mandya, Ramanagara, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru and Hassan districts. It has four assembly constituencies – Hennur, Chamarajanagar, Kollegal and Gundlupet.

Why was Chamarajanar the BJP’s choice to flag off the yatra?

In Hennur, the BJP has found it challenging to defeat Congress’ three-time MLA R Narendra from the Vokkaliga community, while the Chamarajanagar assembly seat was won by Congress’s C Puttarangshetty from the OBC community in the 2018 assembly elections.

In 2018, Mr. Puttarangshetty scored a hat-trick by defeating BJP’s KR Mallikarjunappa by a margin of 4,913 votes. He was also the winner from this seat in 2013 and 2008 elections.

“Mr Puttarangshetty is facing a strong anti-incumbency wave. A poor show in the Assembly could spell trouble for the Congress, at a time when the BJP is trying hard to shift Congress votes with pro-development promises Looking at the performance of .. BJP MLAs and sensing the pulse of the people, BJP has decided to launch its election campaign from Chamarajanagar district today,” a Congress poll strategist told NDTV.

Highly-placed sources in the BJP told NDTV: “In three of the four assembly seats in Chamarajanagar district, the BJP wants to field candidates from the Lingayat community, while the fourth seat – Kollegal – has been reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate. ” ,

The BJP is now focusing on consolidating the Lingayat and tribal votes which are more concentrated in Chamarajanagar district.

“The votes of the tribal community were divided between the Congress and the BJP. There is a right-wing leaning among the young generation of the Vokkaliga community. The local BJP leaders seem to have a very good reach and are ahead of all political parties.” Added a political analyst with the Congress.

The Congress is now banking on Siddaramaiah and his Karnataka Pradesh Committee working president R Dhruvanarayana, who lost the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by a narrow margin to BJP’s V Srinivasa Prasad.

The Congress had launched a march in January – the Prajadhwani Yatra – that spread across the Mysuru-Chamarajanagara-Mandya belt, highlighting that the BJP was busy building temples instead of working on pro-development schemes.

The BJP had recently announced that it would build a Ram temple in the region’s Ramnagar district.

Inspired by Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in Karnataka, the Prajadhwani Yatra is led by two teams – one by Siddaramaiah, who is currently visiting assembly constituencies in northern Karnataka, and the other by DK Shivakumar, who is in southern Karnataka. Focusing on districts.

“With the BJP sidelining BS Yediyurappa, the only USP for the party right now is to capitalize on the visit of its central leaders and take advantage of V Somanna – the sitting MLA and housing minister, who has a huge Lingayat following. In Chamarajanagar, if You have money, the fortunes of an election can change and it is visible with the BJP.”

BJP MP from Mysuru Prathap Simha said BJP is in a tight spot as they do not have any big face in old Mysuru region which has put them on back foot

“BJP was never in the old Mysuru region. We could never make inroads there. Since 2019 – through development, we are winning. During the last election, BJP won only 16 out of 61 seats. The old Mysuru region has gone to the Congress and JD(S) and the BJP is trying hard to squeeze it out.

“BJP never had state level leadership and big name in old Mysuru region. Congress and JDS always had leaders like SM Krishna, Devaraj Urs, Deve Gowda but BJP never had a big leader from this region Most of the Congress and JDS leaders are from the Vokkaliga community. Without Vokkaliga voters, victory in the old Mysore region is difficult. However, over the years, some leaders from this community have joined the BJP. The current state government, Prominent leaders of Vokkaliga community are ministers. We are also attracting voters with pro-development schemes like upcoming inauguration of Mysore Expressway, drinking water under Jal Jeevan Mission. People are slowly leaning towards BJP due to development. are offering schemes,” he said.

The party is banking on the star power of central leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the assembly elections. Tomorrow Defense Minister Rajnath Singh will flag off the second yatra from Nandagarh in Belagavi. Home Minister Amit Shah will begin his third and fourth yatras from Basavakalyan and Devanahalli’s Avathi in Bidar district on Friday.

These yatras will converge with a rally in Davangere on March 25, which will be addressed by PM Modi.