Archives for April 2018

The assembly election in Karnataka, due on May 12, is seen as a high stakes battle between Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is going all out to win back the first southern state the party had ruled. Exit polls, however, have not given a clear majority to either party and increasingly, it appears that Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) may have the power to decide the outcome.
The BJP has chosen as its chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa, who was mired in charges of venality during his last term as head of the BJP’s first southern government. He told NDTV that it was his decision to disallow his son from running for office. However, the last-minute editing out of his son, BY Vijayendra, from the list of candidates has reportedly upset the 75-year-old, though he told that the exclusion was in keeping with the BJP’s policy of avoiding “father-son” combos as candidates.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is seen as having far more autonomy in the running of his campaign than provided to Mr Yeddyurappa by the BJP, said, “I am not at all bothered whether (BJP president) Amit Shah comes or Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes and campaigns here.”
The caste factor has been enormous in this election with the chief minister calling for the Lingayats, estimated to form 17 per cent of the population, to be recognised as a religion. The Lingayats have traditionally backed the BJP and Mr Yeddyurappa is the prosperous community’s tallest leader. So the Congress move is a blatant attempt to replace the BJP as the Lingayats’ preferred choice.

The Lingayats, concentrated in North and Central Karnataka, decide 62 seats. The Scheduled Castes and Tribes, domination the east, influence an equal number. Coastal Karnataka is a mixture of all cadres and decides 33 seats. Muslims power the outcome of 24 seats.
There are 224 seats in all. To win, a party must get 113.

Mr Siddaramaiah left Mr Gowda’s JDS for the Congress in 2005. Mr Kumaraswamy , who is Mr Gowda’s son, was then the Chief Minister of a coalition government with the BJP, a move which so upset his father that he fell sick.

“His father’s health is important to him,” Mr Gowda said, when asked if, given a chance, Mr Kumaraswamy would return to a BJP team.

The battle for Karnataka is expected to be a close fight.

it polls have not given a clear majority to either BJP or Congress
Vote swing of 3 to 4 per cent can deliver majority to either party
The assembly election in Karnataka, due on May 12, is seen as a high stakes battle between Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is going all out to win back the first southern state the party had ruled. Exit polls, however, have not given a clear majority to either party and increasingly, it appears that Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) may have the power to decide the outcome.
The results of a poll of opinion polls – an average of the exit poll results – conducted in January and since, show a slight decline for the BJP.

karnataka assembly election
But this is not much different from the scenario that would have been there after the 2013 assembly polls, had BS Yeddyurappa been a part of the BJP. Mr Yeddyurappa, who led the BJP to a victory in 2008 and became the chief minister, had to step down following corruption charges. He walked out of the BJP and contested the 2013 elections at the head of his own party. He rejoined BJP within a year and is the BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate this time.

The battle for Karnataka is expected to be a close fight – a vote swing of 3 to 4 per cent either way can deliver a majority to the Congress, or the BJP.

The Congress is going to need only a 3 per cent swing for a majority – most of its gains could come from areas with a substantial population of Scheduled Castes and Tribes.

For the BJP, a 4 per cent vote swing is necessary for an outright victory. It could be possible if the Lingayats, traditional supporters of the party, continue to vote for it in face of the Congress move to swing the votes in its favour by giving the community the minority religion status.

The leaders of all three parties – Congress chief Minister Siddaramaiah, BJP’s Yeddyurappa and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy, the son of Mr Deve Gowda – have expressed confidence about a clear verdict. Past experience shows that the state has given a hung verdict only in 15 per cent of the 14 assembly elections held till date. For the rest, the verdict was clear.

Caste is expected to be one of the key influencing factors in the state. Lingayat politics have dominated much of the campaign, with the community being able to influence the outcome in 62 seats. An equal number of seats can be influenced by the Scheduled Castes and Tribes – followed by Vokkaligas, Kurubas and the Muslims.

The BJP has traditionally been the big gainer in the Lingayat belt, the Congress has had a moderate advantage in the Muslim belt. The JD(S) gains in the areas dominated by the Vokkaligas.

One assembly seat in Karnataka has managed to remain the bellwether seat for a dozen elections — assembly and Lok Sabha — and is the most watched seat in the state. Shirahatti, named after a panchayat town in central Karnataka’s Gadag district — has managed to vote for the winning party in the state and centre. Its streak has continued for seven assembly and five Lok Sabha elections.

Shirahatti is followed by Yelburga, also in Central Karnataka, which got the winning party right five times. Six other seats voted for the winning party in four assembly elections in the state.

Elections for Karnataka’s 224 seats will be held on May 12. The results will be declared on May 15.

Bharatiya Janata Party has charged that the Congress party, in a
bid to polarise a section of voters, has joined hands with communal outfits like Popular Front of
India (PFI) and it’s poltical arm, Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) under the scanner of
National Investigation Agency (NIA) for their known links with terrorists.
Addressing a press conference here today State BJP General Secretary and MP, Kum.
Shobha Karandlaje said the NIA had already arrested some of the members from these
organisations for murdering Hindu karyakarthas such as Kuttappa, Rudresh, Sharath Madival,
Prashanth Pujari, and the Congress had a brazen association with such outfits.
She said the Congress party leaders including Chief Minister, Sri. Siddaramaiah negotiated
with these organisations and made them to withdraw the candidates in the Assembly elections. It
showed that the Congress party could stoop to any level to gain some votes. The people were
wise enough to see their divisive and appeasement politics and teach them a befitting lesson in
the coming Assembly election.
Frustrated by groundswell against him in Chamundeshwari and Badamai segments, Sri.
Siddaramaiah has indulged in low level politics. He had sensed the defeat of himself as well as his
party and was trying to confuse voters. He continued to spread canard about political
opponents. He had been spreading lies that BJP President Sri. Amith Shah and JDS leader Sri. H.
D. Kumaraswamy had discussion on April 13 last. But it was known fact that the BJP chief was in
hectic electioneering programme at Nandagadha, Mudhol and other places. The BJP had asked Sri
Siddaramaiah to come out with proof but the latter had not done it so far, she said.
Kum. Karandlaje said Sri. Siddaramaiah’s political ideology had been rooted in Janata
Pariwar for decades and he had a natural leaning towards it, because of which he opted for an
alliance with JDS in BBMP. They had been sharing power in BBMP for over 3 years. Also, both
parties were supportive each other in looting.
However, Sri Siddaramaiah had been spreading lies about BJP and JDS alliance. Perhaps
the Congress leader was trying to instil fear in minorities specially in Muslims, she said and
appealed to them to see through the ruling party design.
State BJP spokesperson, Dr. Vaman Acharya, Co-spokesperson Sri. Anwar Manappady and
Kum. C. Manjula were present.

If the children of film stars, doctors, businessmen can follow the same career as their parents, why not the children of politicians? In the Karnataka elections, that seems to be one of the arguments to justify tickets given to the children of senior politicians.

Five members of the cabinet, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his son Dr Yathindra who form the most prominent father-child combination, have their children fighting the elections. And while the BJP state president BS Yeddyurappa’s son Vijayendra isn’t a fellow candidate this time round, the Congress has many parent-child combinations.

Sowmya, daughter of Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who will be contesting from Jayanagar in south Bengaluru, has been an activist for around 20 years. She insists that initiatives taken by her justify the Congress’s faith in her.

She told ” It’s not that I was sitting at home and just asked for a ticket… In fact, a couple of years ago, I was outside the political system and fought as against the system. Around 10 years ago, I protested against my own government (Congress)… it was against my father’s programme, a poultry conference. And a few years ago, we had drafted a brilliant poultry bill. But over time, it just collected dust… That’s when I decided to take the plunge and be a part of the system because politics is the biggest vehicle for social change.”

Unlike Sowmya, Priya Krishna, the son of Housing Minister and real estate baron, M Krishnappa, is not a first-time candidate. On the campaign trail in his constituency of Govindrajnagar, he hopes to win the seat for the third time. “I’m definitely expecting more votes than last time,” he said while speaking to NDTV.

For years, the Congress has been accused of dynasty politics, and Randeep Singh Surjewala, media in charge of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) “It is a valid charge that I must answer.”

Sushma Swaraj and her husband are also part of the same family who held positions in the BJP. Yashwant Sinha, who recently resigned, and his son, have both been part of the power set-up in the BJP. Whether it is Dr Raman Singh and his son, or Vasundara Raje Scindia and her son who is BJP lawmaker… there are examples galore, he added.

“Ultimately, you have to succeed or fail on the strength of your own character, your own wisdom and hard work. If Mr Siddaramaiah’s son is fighting, the very fact that Yeddyurappa has to withdraw his son proves that the man is wedded to the grassroots, is simple and will deliver what the people want,” Mr Surjewala said.