Distribution of tickets to close aides of the main accused in mining scam in Karnataka and denial of ticket to son of party’s chief ministerial candidate may cause damage to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has a neck and neck fight with the Congress which is ruling the state.
The BJP had scored over the main rival, Congress, by refusing to allot Varuna seat to son of Yeddiurappa, Vijayendra. But it lost the point gained over it by accommodating as many as seven persons close to Janardhan Reddy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s U-turn and attack on Thursday on the Janata Dal (Secular) or JDS has also caused confusion and not given a clear signal.
One really wonders why has he changed the stand after a day? On the labour day he had shown bonhomie with the party and its founder, former PM, H D Deve Gowda. In return, Gowda had used some good words for Modi. In some circles it was taken as a sign of growing closeness between the two.
The JDS can play a crucial role in case of a hung Assembly and good relationship between the two can keep the Congress away from power.
Perhaps, Modi changed his stand and asked voters not to back the party because his association with it, in his view, may affect the BJP’s prospects. He may have thought that the best thing is to keep the people guessing about its future plans.
Some voters may shift to the Congress because of change in relationship with the JDS. There is no need for a show of solidarity with any party at the moment. The party may think on how to cross the bridge when it reaches the bridge.
It may be a good strategy, but denial of ticket to Vijayendra does not seem to be so. Though his father has put up a brave face and denied that it will affect the result, but Vijayendra has made his resentment known.
In an interview to a paper he has said that the party will lose ten to fifteen seats. “What has hurt workers is that the party top leadership had given green signal initially and that is why they had fanned out and begun canvassing. It was much later that it decided to offer Varuna seat to some one else”, he has been quoted as saying.
The party largely depends on Lingayats for success and he belongs to this caste. In a tight contest, like this, a small section of voters can matter.
What could be the reason behind it? One reply is that it provided a stick to the BJP to beat the Congress. The party has been attacking the Congress for playing dynastic politics and the denial decision went well with it. But this is not a new issue. If win was the main concern it could be set aside. At least most of his supporters who had gone beserk after announcement of party list think on this line only.
“If the party cared so much for principle, it should not have given tickets to tainted Reddy brothers”, one of them pointed out. “Why was Yeddyurappa declared chief ministerial candidate? He was charged with corruption and has gone in jail in this connection. It should have gone for a clean-image candidate if it was opposed to dynastic rule and corruption”, some others argued.
Selection of Yeddy has weakened the party’s attack on chief minister Siddaramaiah whom the party has called as the most corrupt and who to Modi is “Sidda Rupaiya”.
The party seems to be mainly banking on scheduled castes, in addition to Lingayats. It has been indicated by roping in Sriramulu. He is a party MP but had still been asked to contest this year’s Assembly elections because he is a popular Dalit leader. He is fighting against Sidda in Badami, one of two seats CM is contesting from.
His closeness to Reddy family may , however, upset the party’s game-plan.
Inspite of all this, what is heartening to the BJP is large crowd which is collecting at PM’s meeting venues. According to one estimate, more than a lakh of people had come to listen to him in Chamarajanagar district which was his first stop in the last leg of campaigning.
In view of this, the party has planned more Modi’s rallies in next five days. He was scheduled to address only 15 rallies between May 1 and 10 (last day of loud campaigning). The number may go up considerably now. Clearly, it still largely depends on “Modi magic”.
Hindusthan Samachar/ R. Narayan/ Shri Ram Shaw
