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With an eye on urban local body (ULB) polls scheduled for August end and also on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, political parties in Karnataka are working round the clock to provide relief measures in the Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada and Hassan districts.
Though the Malnad region and the coastal districts are BJP bastions, it was the Congress-JD (S) combine that has made the first move. It has stationed its ministers-in-charge of Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada in the affected areas to provide relief measures.
Kodagu, which is part of Mysore-Kodagu Lok Sabha parliamentary constituency, plays a crucial role in Lok Sabha elections. A candidate or party getting sizeable votes in this hilly district has more chances to win as the seat has three ULBs — Kushalnagar, Virajpet and Somwarpet. While in the Mangalore Lok Sabha parliamentary constituency it is smaller towns which matters or plays a pivotal role for a victory. The district has three ULBs — Ullal, Puttur and Buntwal.
Mysore-Kodagu and Mangalore Lok Sabha parliamentary constituencies have sizeable voters comprising Hindus, Christians and Muslims. While the Congress is eyeing this vote bank, the BJP is concentrating on the consolidated Hindu votes.
With Congress being routed in Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada in the recently-concluded Assembly elections, a win in these ULBs will give them something to save their face and help them in the upcoming general elections.
JD (S) has partial presence in Kodagu and negligible in Dakshina Kannada. Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has deputed his party man and district in-charge minister SR Mahesh to oversee the relief measures. On its part, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) led by its President Dinesh Gundu Rao has formed various co-ordination committees to oversee flood relief distribution. So far, G Parameshwara, Deputy Chief Minister and RV Deshpande, Revenue Minister, have visited the affected areas twice to monitor the relief works. On Thursday, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too visited the flood-ravaged areas.
On the other side, BJP’s State President and former Chief Minister BS Yedurappa and local elected representatives visited the flood-hit regions in Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts.
While the overall picture looks gloomy in Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada, Congress leaders are buckling under pressure; JD (S) is nowhere in the scene but taking efforts and BJP is working without much noise.
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