Karnataka Polls: Top three themes this season - Hindustan Times
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Karnataka Polls: Top three themes this season

May 08, 2023 07:29 PM IST

Three main issues that have captured the public imagination are the ban on Bajrang Dal, insults to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and corruption.

In Karnataka, where 2023 assembly polls are slated to be held on May 10, no single issue seems to straddle the six regions, the state’s diversity seems impossible to flatten into one burning concern, and even the anti-incumbency factor fluctuates. Three broad issues, however, captured the public imagination — and provided grist for the mill — in the month-long campaign: One, the ban on Bajrang Dal, two, insults to prime minister Narendra Modi and three, corruption.

Karnataka goes to the assembly polls on May 10. (ANI) PREMIUM
Karnataka goes to the assembly polls on May 10. (ANI)

All tall leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), from the PM to home minister Amit Shah as well as chief ministers of many BJP-ruled states campaigned for the party, which assigned a senior party leader from outside the state to each of the 224 assembly constituencies.

The Congress, on its part, made the BJP government’s proven corruption cases into one of its main poll planks; social justice and welfare to weaker sections, relief from inflation and increasing reservation to 75% for all categories including scheduled caste, scheduled tribe and other backward classes, were some of the others. They sought to counter the government’s pre-campaign move of increasing the quota in jobs and admissions by two percentage points each for Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities — the two dominant communities of the state — by rescinding the 4% reservation granted to Muslim communities. Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spent almost a fortnight covering almost every region of the state.

There were also region-specific issues. For instance, in the Vokkaliga-dominated Mysore region, corruption and neglect of the region by the BJP government was a key issue whereas in Lingayat-dominated north Karnataka, unemployment and corruption were some of the main talking points. In Central Karnataka, the BJP gained brownie points for backing the Lingayats and Modi’s work at the Centre.

HT reporters, who visited several parts of the state, said that there was a visible anti-incumbency sentiment on the ground. Other significant issues that concerned people were price rise, unemployment, corruption and the increasing vulnerability of the agricultural sector.

BAJRANG DAL VS BAJRANG BALI

After the Congress announced in its manifesto that it would promote “decisive action as per law” including bans, against organisations that spread “enmity and hatred” like Popular Front of India and Bajrang Dal, the ruling BJP and right-wing organisations held protests and recited the Hanuman Chalisa at several places in the state. PM Modi likened the promised ban on Bajrang Dal, a right-wing Hindu group, to locking up Lord Hanuman who is also referred to as Bajrang Bali, as well as those who follow him. He asked voters at Hospete to shout “Jai Bajrang Bali,” while casting their ballot. Deputy chief minister K S Eshwarappa burnt the Congress manifesto. There were also protests in other parts of the country, such as Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, by Bajrang Dal and BJP workers.

To mitigate the impact, some central Congress leaders said that the equating of Bajrang Dal — responsible for violence related to cow vigilantism in many parts of the state — with Bajrang Bali was an insult to Hindus. Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar visited a Hanuman temple in Chamundi Hill in Mysuru on May 4 and promised to build more temples to Anjaneya (another name for Hanuman among devotees in southern India) and renovate the existing ones in the state. Shivakumar even promised a separate trust and policy for the upkeep of Hanuman temples. He claimed that 25 Anjaneya temples between Bengaluru and Mysuru were constructed by the first chief minister of the state Kengal Hanumanthaiah, who was a Congress leader. “Did BJP construct even one temple? They are trying to encash it, which no one will listen to,” he had said during a campaign.

Senior Congress leader and former Karnataka chief minister Veerappa Moily further clarified that there was no suggestion before the party to ban the Bajrang Dal and added that banning organisations was a subject for the Centre. [States can ban organisations, but the Centre often exercises this.] Some state Congress leaders even blamed the Central party leaders for including Bajrang Dal in the manifesto despite their resistance. Last September, the Centre banned PFI and some of its affiliated organisations, except the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI; the PFI’s political party) for “undermining democracy” and showing disrespect to “the constitutional set up of the country”.

Experts said the Congress included taking action against organisations like Bajrang Dal to cater to its Muslim vote-bank, which, it was felt, may swing towards SDPI, which is contesting 19 seats in coastal Karnataka, or Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM that has candidates in several Muslim-dominated seats across the state.

Valerian Rodrigues, a political observer and former professor at Mangalore University and Jawaharlal Nehru University, said it could help the Congress get more Muslim votes, particularly in coastal Karnataka, where the PFI and Bajrang Dal cadres have repeatedly clashed. “The controversy came too late [in the campaign]. The template for the election was more or less set. It could be a talking point in some parts of coastal Karnataka or in some urban areas, but it is too late for this to sink in as a poll issue,” he said.

TRADE IN INSULTS

Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and his son Priyank Kharge have been accused of insulting the PM during the campaign trail. Kharge senior had said that the ideology of the PM was like a “poisonous snake” while his son called him “nalayak” (incompetent) while speaking about the anger of the Banjaras over the sub-categorisation of reservation. In the new reservation breakup, out of the 17% reservation for SCs, 6% has been awarded to the ‘SC Left’ group [communities that were once bonded labour and are considered the most downtrodden], the ‘SC Right’ category got 5.5% of the quota [both these groups constitute the people who have faced historical discrimination as untouchables], while other communities got 5.5%.

BJP MLA Basangouda Patil Yatnal, in turn, also exemplified low discourse when he described former Congress president Sonia Gandhi as a “Vishkanya” (a poisonous woman) and called her son, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, as a “senseless” man during the campaign, embarrassing the party leadership. BJP national president JP Nadda said the Congress is going through "mental bankruptcy" and its leaders have been following the Gandhi family in using derogatory language against the prime minister. Both Yatnal and junior Kharge were served notices by the Election Commission.

“For voters, it is clear that this is not an election about PM Modi. It is about chief minister Basavaraj Bommai’s work versus what the Congress has promised,” said A Narayana, professor of political science at Azim Premji University.

CORRUPTION

On April 29, income tax officials found 1 crore hidden in a tree at the house of Congress candidate Ashok Kumar Rai’s brother, K Subrahmanya Rai, highlighting the use of money power in the Karnataka elections. Till May 4, the EC had made seizures worth 388 crore since March 1 as compared to the 83 crore it had seized in the 2018 assembly election. This is the second-highest amount to date; in the 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly polls, election officers made seizures worth 500 crore.

The seizures made in the elections are not even 10% of the money that flows in for bribing voters during elections, election officers said. This time around, BJP leader Ramesh Jarikohli declared that he will give 6,000 to each voter in his constituency in north Karnataka, in what is a clear violation of election norms. Videos of at least five candidates, from both the Congress and the BJP, distributing money or gifts to voters went viral on social media. On the ground, it is clear that the Congress and the BJP are competing with each other on the use of money power to win the polls.

The Congress’s campaign against the corruption of the BJP government resonated with voters, especially as it utilized catchy campaign slogans like ‘40% Sarkara’ (referring to the contractors’ association president D Kempanna’s charge that the BJP government took a 40% cut in projects) and ‘PayCM’. It also brought out a corruption rate card of the government claiming that the chief minister’s post was available for 2,500 crore and a 1 crore bribe was sought for a peon’s transfer. To counter this, the BJP alleged that there were 80% bribes sought by the Congress governments and the Gandhi family was the most corrupt. The BJP also filed a petition with the EC seeking a ban on the Congress advertisement claiming that the allegations levelled were false and the Congress had no proof.

As campaigning comes to a close on May 8, all parties will no doubt re-assess their past month as a win would prove to be a boost before the crucial 2024 assembly election. The BJP would certainly hope to retain the only southern state it has power in. It will also be eyeing Telangana, where assembly elections will be held in December, as well as Andhra Pradesh, where it is looking for an alliance with Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP in the upcoming national elections in ’24.

For the Congress, a win would mean wiping out the BJP from southern India, and offering much-needed electoral confidence to those supporting the nationwide Opposition unity taking shape. It is because of this that the Congress is trying to test its social justice versus Hindutva campaign in Karnataka and has also placed a demand for a national caste census. If the Congress wins, one can expect this to be the Opposition’s main electoral campaign plank for 2024.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Chetan Chauhan is National Affairs Editor. A journalist for over two decades, he has written extensively on social sector and politics with special focus on environment and political economy.

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