The Bharatiya Janata Party, after several back-to-back meetings for five days, released its first list of 189 candidates for the upcoming 224-seat assembly polls in Karnataka on Tuesday night.
The list with 52 new entrants and many old faces dropped, party leaders said, was an outcome of a push by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the party to do away with "tainted, jaded, and adjustment politics" that have become a marker of the state's politics in recent decades.
Facing an aggressive campaign by the Congress, which has already released names for 166 candidates, and the JD(S), which too announced its first set of candidates long ago, the BJP has had to counter many questions over the delay in its list, with the Congress claiming that the party was struggling to resolve its internal differences.
However, according to senior BJP leaders, the PM made a critical intervention during the meeting of the central election committee on Sunday. He, they said, made it clear that if he has to ask the people of Karnataka to give the party a majority on its own at least once—the party missed it in 2008 and also in 2019—the list of candidates should be nothing less than a "proof of intent" and cannot be a repeat of the past lists that could make people question the party's promises.
The PM was clear that people will not be convinced with the same old patriarchs and narratives, a party functionary told BQ Prime on the condition of anonymity as he is not allowed to talk to the media. Modi said that the list should make very clear the party's serious intent about the future of the state, which was then worked upon after many more consultations, he said.
In its first list, the BJP has dropped around 12 MLAs, according to a senior party official who does not wish to be named.
The selection of the candidates in the BJP for Karnataka this time was based mainly on three metrics, apart from the caste factor, excluding some exceptions, the above mentioned party functionary said. But having faced the fallout of rebels in Himachal Pradesh, the party leadership wanted the list to be a statement that could inspire confidence in people but not disrupt the party's chances within the existing social dynamics, he said.
Many of those who were facing allegations of sexual harassment or were surrounded by controversies have not been given tickets. Similarly, the party leadership decided not to nominate those who had already reached the "pinnacle of their career", which is why senior leaders such as KS Eshwarappa and Jagdish Shettar were asked to make way for others. While Eshwarappa has issued a statement about his retirement, Shettar is likely to meet with the party leadership and ask for a chance to contest again. The party is yet to announce candidates for Shivamogga City, where Eshwarappa's son has sought a ticket, and also for Shettar's Hubballi-Dharwad Central seat.
The most important change was a departure from "adjustment politics", seen every election, wherein the party would make a lightweight leader contest the seats that the strong leaders of the opposition were fighting for, the senior party functionary quoted above said. Last week, former PM HD Devegowda had remarked that "tactical alliances" between senior BJP and Congress leaders were a regular feature in the state. Senior leaders were also asked to move away from their "comfort zones" to help the party, but considering the dynamics of the place, radical changes were avoided, particularly in Bengaluru, he said.
This time, however, the BJP has announced the names of Housing Minister V Somanna and, Revenue Minister and Former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashok to take on Congress leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar from Varuna and Kanakapura, respectively. Both Somanna and Ashok will also fight from Chamarajanagar and Padmanabhanagar, respectively. Somanna, who usually fights from Govindaraja Nagar, faces a difficult battle this time.
It will not only be a test of their leadership but will also help in restricting the movement of the Congress leaders at least somewhat, the senior party functionary mentioned above said. The requests of many leaders to accommodate their sons or family members in another constituency have also not been fully accepted and were seen as major points of disagreement, he said.
The MLAs dropped in the first list include Anil Benake from Belagavi North, Yadawad Mahadevappa from Ramdurg, Ramappa Lamani from Gadag, Sanjeeva Matandoor from Puttur, Lalaji Mendon from Kapu, Srinivas Shetty from Kundapura, who has already announced his retirement from politics recently, NY Gopalakrishna from Kudligi, who has resigned from the party already, three-time Udupi MLA, K Raghupathi Bhatt, S Angara from Sullia, and Goolihatti Shekar from Hose Durga.
The views of veteran party leader and former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was "adequately respected and accommodated", with his son BY Vijayendra given the seat of Shikaripura to contest, and despite some disagreements, even his aide Thammesh Gowda made it from Byatarayanapura, a second party functionary said. The clout of former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi in Belagavi also remained unchallenged as he managed to get his loyalist and incumbent MLA Mahesh Kumathalli renominated, scoring over the former Deputy Chief Minister and MLC Laxman Savadi.The party also announced that minister BS Anand Singh's son Siddharth Singh will contest his seat in Kampli.
There are some political compulsions, but the state BJP wants it to be clear that while the Congress has given tickets to even people like Vinay Kulkarni and others who face serious charges, the party is moving away from that kind of politics, a third party functionary told BQ Prime. The Congress is trying to cannibalise on anti-incumbency, but they are promoting the status quo in politics, he said.
Knowing that the party is facing a difficult election, the BJP in Karnataka this time attempted an extensive "Raishumari" (feedback gathering) on April 1 and April 2, where it reached out to at least 300 former and present office bearers, sarpanches, and zilla parishad heads on every seat and asked them to give them in writing their preferences for a candidate. The BJP's election in-charge for Karnataka, Dharmendra Pradhan, said 25,000 workers were consulted in the process. With a format similar to the U.S. presidential primaries, the BJP attempted this exercise on a smaller scale in the Northeast this year. In Karnataka, the party has also gotten feedback from at least eight different sources, including the RSS lists and extensive surveys done by experts.
Subsequently, rigorous discussions were held among BJP President JP Nadda, National Organisation Secretary BL Santhosh, Co-Incharges K Annamalai and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and General Secretary of the party Arun Singh, apart from Pradhan played an important part. The final decisions were made on Tuesday at a meeting of these leaders, along with state leaders, with Home Minister Amit Shah.
Caste Matters
As many 32 candidates are other backward classes and 30 are scheduled castes are part of the BJP's list. Nearly 51 candidates from the first list belong to the politically influential Lingayat community, while the Congress has given tickets to 45 Lingayat candidates till now. The BJP had given tickets to 55 Lingayats last time, of which 40 had won, as opposed to 17 of the Congress out of 43. There are around 40 Vokkaligas on the BJP's first list.
The list also highlighted the focus of the BJP on STs. While state minister B Sriramulu is set to contest from the Bellary Rural seat, the party has given tickets to 16 ST candidates, although there are only 13 seats reserved for the ST community. As an outreach to SCs—another major focus area for the BJP—those in the know of the matter said the party would give as many tickets to dalits as the Congress. This is to address the chances of a consolidation of the SC (left) and SC (right) for the Congress because of the guarantees the party has made and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge who himself is from Gulbarga.
The central emphasis of the BJP is also on OBCs, apart from Lingayats, a fourth party functionary said. The BJP is the only party to give a ticket to a Kuruba in the 18 districts of Mumbai Karnataka, he said, adding that is because the party is confident the poor will vote for the PM " regardless of caste".
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