Neat line-up of combatants in Karnataka

The battle lines are now clearly drawn in Karnataka for election to the 28 seats of Lok Sabha to be held on April 26 and May 7.

With Janata Dal Secular (JDS) having entered an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), all seats will have straight fights with candidates of Indian National Congress pitted against the rival BJP in 25 seats and the JD(S) in 3 seats.

Despite ruling the state, the Congress is likely to find the challenge formidable as two principal adversaries i.e., the BJP and the JD(S) have come together.

The stakes are high for the Congress. Any victory margin falling short of the halfway mark may spell trouble for the party’s government which had registered a resounding victory a year ago in the election for the 224-member Assembly.

The Siddaramaiah government’s stability will be in peril if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is back at the Centre. The party knows it too well that it cannot sit on its past laurels.

Though the JD(S) has thought little of the ‘Secular’ tag in its nomenclature while allying with the BJP, it is doubtful if the two parties would be able to transfer their voteshare to each other.

In 2023 assembly polls, the JD(S) saw a drastic fall in its votes to 18% from the previous high of 23% leading to a decline in the number of seats from 37 to 19.

Facing an existential crisis, it has decided to hitch its bandwagon with the BJP. The BJP, on its part too, has allied with the JD(S) notwithstanding its denunciation of dynastic politics against family-based parties.

What is clear as of now is that a stiff contest is on the cards in the state. Besides the weight of incumbency, the Congress is under the heat of criticism for failing to take effective steps to combat drought in the state.

Short of funds, the party has nominated children of seven cabinet ministers and siblings of two cabinet ministers in the hope that the political families will muster their own resources for the electioneering.

Such nominations have not gone down well with several of its leaders. It had to pacify several heavyweights in Kolar with a consensus nominee.

However, the Congress hopes are hinged on the five guarantees offered during the Assembly polls which the party’s government fulfilled during the last one year.

The polls would be a barometer of the people’s satisfaction But the BJP had to go through a much more nettlesome process of selection. The party scene is rife with several mutinies.

In matters of parivarvaad, the shoe is on the other foot in the state. Veteran BJP leader Eswarappa has revolted against the party for denial of ticket to his son from Shivamogga where BY Raghavendra, son of former chief minister and party stalwart B.S.Yediyurappa has been fielded.

Trouble is brewing in Belagavi too where recent returnee Jagadish Shettar has been nominated. The BJP is facing anger of bigwigs like Ananthkumar Hegde and Sadananda Gowda who have been rested after several terms.

Lingayat seers are up in arms against Brahmin politician and sitting MP Pralhad Joshi who they accuse of harbouring ill-will against Veerashaivas. Battle-hardened Somanna’s choice from Tumakuru too has not won approval of the local party cadre.

Verbal duel broke out in open between former deputy CM Govind Karjol and a local MLA over the former’s nomination from Chitradurga.

Karjol was trounced in the Assembly election. Having been denied the ticket, sitting Mysuru MP Pratap Simha is licking his wounds.

The party has fielded Yaduveer, the scion of the former ruling family from his seat.

Karnataka is an interesting case as Congress regained the state after wresting it from the BJP which had engineered defections within the Congress as well as the JD(S) in 2019 after its whirlwind victory in the LS polls.

It is to be seen as to how effectively the Congress protects its fort. The state is also a case of combatants having a neat line-up.