Polling in 14 constituencies on Tuesday — mostly in north Karnataka — is crucial for the BJP and the Congress, with the former trying to retain the 10 seats it holds and the latter keen to regain the foothold it once had in the region and take the tally beyond 4. The Janata Dal (Secular), which has no seats here but has vote share in some pockets, is hoping to open an account.
The second phase is also crucial for leaders like M. Mallikarjun Kharge and former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa. Mr. Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, is facing a challenge from his former party colleague Umesh Jadhav in Kalaburagi. Mr. Yeddyurappa’s son B.Y. Raghavendra is fighting against JD(S) candidate Madhu Bangarappa, son of former Chief Minister S. Bangarappa, at Shivamogga. Union Minister Ananthkumar Hegde is seeking his sixth term from Uttara Kannada.
The run up to the polls saw an interesting contrast in campaign strategies of the Congress and the BJP. The saffron party relied heavily on the “Modi factor” rather than individual contestants, national security issues and ‘Mai bhi chowkidar’ campaign. The Congress focused on the NYAY (minimum income guarantee scheme) and women’s reservation bill in its manifesto and the ‘Chowkidar chor hain’ campaign.
Interestingly, the issue of separate religion status to Lingayats, a major issue ahead of Assembly elections, was not overtly stated for most part of the campaign season, though many areas here have a dominant presence of the community. However, as the Congress reportedly started playing the ‘Panchamasali Lingayat card’ — focusing on a particular Lingayat subsect — the BJP too talked of the issue towards the end of campaign.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the Lingayat issue in his campaign and blamed the Congress for attempting to divide the religion for political gains. An alleged fake letter dating back to 2017, attributed to Home Minister M.B. Patil, was published by a Kannada daily owned by a BJP leader. It alleged that the Minister had advised Sonia Gandhi to use the issue to divide the community. Finally, Mr. Patil lodged a complaint with the police and also got a gag order from the Election Commission. Adding to this was the tug-of-war between Congress leaders Mr. Patil and Minister D.K. Shivakumar, with the former taking exception to the latter apologising over the Congress taking up the Lingayat issue.
Meanwhile, what has disappointed many is that real issues like the Mahadayi water dispute, implementation of 371(J), and irrigation projects in Krishna and Tungabhadra basin have hardly become talking points in the poll campaign.
