BENGALURU: After winning the Vokkaliga strongholds of KR Pete in Mandya, Yeshwantpur and Chikkaballapur, it is no surprise that CM BS Yediyurappa’s new-look cabinet has seven ministers from this community. Yediyurappa has inducted four Vokkaligas — Narayana Gowda, K Gopalaiah, ST Somashekar and Dr K Sudhakar. This is in addition to R Ashok, CT Ravi and CN Ashwath Narayan, and is unprecedented because the BJP has never been seen as a party of Vokkaligas.
It was BY Vijayendra and Ashwath Narayan who delivered KR Pete in Mandya to the BJP. Ever since, Yediyurappa is going all out to retain his share of the Vokkaliga pie. His attempt to give a berth to CP Yogeshwar, who hails from this community, has been delayed, but he knows that Yogeshwar’s induction will make BJP more powerful in the Vokkaliga-dominated Channapatna-Ramanagara belt.
The undisputed community leader remains JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda, but the man who has seen victory in 37 Vokkaliga-dominated areas and stood a close second to the Congress in 30 constituencies where their votes make a decisive difference, is feeling threatened. Gowda has not hidden his bitterness, and even hit out at Ashwath Narayan being seen in KR Pete.
Yediyurappa has parliamentarians in 25 of 28 constituencies and couldn’t win Hassan, Bangalore Rural and Mandya. In Mandya, BJP supported Congress rebel Sumalatha Ambareesh. Yediyurappa’s gameplan is to increase the number of Vokkaliga voters.
At a recent cabinet meeting, the BJP took keen interest in sugar factories in Mandya, the backbone of the local economy. The budget is likely to see investment in local infrastructure, to help them receive local support.
Senior party leaders like Amit Shah and others have met Adichunchanagiri pontiffs repeatedly, and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has a special connect with them through the Nath tradition. Ashwath Narayan’s elevation has also yielded the party richer rewards because he is credited with the KR Pete victory. “The party’s support base has increased tremendously, it is a 360-degree effort,” he told TNIE.
Minister CT Ravi gave it another perspective, “It’s not about power, but about being of greater service.’’