suggests a realignment of castes in the state. The Congress swept some of the districts in Kittur, Kalyana Karnataka, Central Karnataka, and the southern part of the old Mysuru region. The BJP could sweep only two districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada and won some seats here and there across the state. The Janata Dal (Secular) has completely collapsed, ceding ground to the Congress in the old Mysuru region.
A closer look at the results throws some light on a few interesting facts. The Kittur Karnataka and Kalyana Karnataka regions are Lingayat strongholds, with many OBCs, mainly Kurubas and SCs/STs. It also has a sizable Muslim population. The BJP has swept Belagavi/Belgaum, Vijayapura/Bijapur, Bagalkot, Haveri, undivided Bellary, Raichur, and Gulbarga in these two regions.
The BJP’s “betrayal” of the Lingayats resonated in these regions and a rich electoral harvest for the Congress suggests a shift in the community’s votes. The Kurubas voted as a bloc for the Congress because of their leader Siddaramaiah.
The Muslims also seem to have voted as a bloc to the Congress to halt the BJP. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have also voted for the Congress in a big way. AICC president M Mallikarjun Kharge had played the “son of the soil” card and it has paid off. The top Lingayat leader of the Congress, MB Patil, has also played a big role in getting his community’s support. He was instrumental in getting former CM Jagadish Shettar into the party, which severely dented the BJP.
BJP’s stalwarts like Govind Karjol, Murugesh Nirani, and B Sriramulu have lost because of the shifting castes. The Lingayat reservation and internal quota in reservations seem to have also gone against the BJP.
The Congress has also swept the Central Karnataka districts of Davanagere and Chitradurga, again, a Lingayat, Kuruba, and SC/ST stronghold.
The Congress has also swept Tumkur, a stronghold of the Lingayats, Vokkaligas, and SCs. The same voting pattern can be seen here.
Surprisingly, the Congress has swept the Chikmagalur district, which had been a citadel of the BJP in recent years. The victory can be attributed to a decisive shift in Vokkaliga votes who seem to have backed their caste leader DK Shivakumar. The same thing has happened in Mandya, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur, and Ramanagara: again, a DKS impact.
In the Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts, which the Congress has literally swept, are also Lingayat, Vokkaliga, Kuruba, and SC/ST dominated. Siddaramaiah, who is a native, and a shift in caste votes have helped the Congress to win big here.
The victory seems to be a combination of AHINDA of Siddaramaiah, upper caste Vokkaligas of DK Shivakumar, and a split in the Lingayat votes.
If the Congress holds on to this, it can once again become formidable across Karnataka, edging out the BJP in the coming Parliament elections.
Comments
0 comment