The rising poll cacophony in Chamundeshwari segment

The election to the prestigious Chamundeshwari Assembly constituency is evolving into a high-voltage personality clash between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Janata Dal (Secular) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy, reminiscent of the epic byelection in the constituency in 2006.

It is also turning out to be a no-holds-barred attempt by both the parties to lure the dominant Vokkaliga community into their respective camps. Though Mr. Siddaramaiah’s direct rival is the JD(S) candidate G.T. Deve Gowda — who is seeking a re-election from the constituency — the election has turned into a prestige issue for Mr. Kumaraswamy and the Chief Minister both of whom are predicting each other’s political Waterloo.

Reminiscent of 2006

It also brings to the fore the mutual animosity the two harbour, which boiled over ever since Mr. Siddaramaiah shunned the JD(S) and ended up joining the Congress. In the 2006 byelection, Mr. Siddaramaiah scraped through by a wafer-thin margin of 257 votes, which not only saved him from political oblivion but also riled the JD(S) no end. The byelction was necessitated because Mr. Siddaramaiah resigned from the seat, which he had won on a JD(S) ticket, prior to joining the Congress.

This bitterness was fanned recently by Congress president Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the region when he dubbed the JD(S) as the “B team of the BJP”, which incensed the followers of Mr. Kumaraswamy.

All this has led to a perception that the Congress was “anti-Vokkaliga” under Mr. Siddaramaiah and hence the community would en masse back the JD(S). The rumours that Mr. Siddaramaiah may file his nomination from a “safe constituency” from any other part of the State only strengthened this notion. Though Mr. Siddaramaiah has stoutly denied this report, it highlights the strong undercurrent of political intrigue that is at play in Chamundeshwari.

Caste matrix

Given the caste matrix of the constituency which has nearly 2.89 lakh voters, of whom nearly 85,000 are Vokkaligas according to a ballpark figure, strategists believe that the key to victory is in consolidating their votes. The public perception that the Vokkaligas are fully behind the JD(S) this time is so strongly ingrained that Vokkaliga leaders from the Congress recently made a show of solidarity to dispel such a notion.

This show, however, was quickly dismissed by Mr. Kumaraswamy as a desperate attempt by a few “self-proclaimed leaders sans followers” to demonstrate their loyalty to Mr. Siddaramaiah. Within 24 hours, the JD(S) came up with its own “display of strength” wherein scores of local leaders from the Congress camp — mostly from the Vokkaliga community — entered the JD(S) fold in the presence of Mr. Kumaraswamy.

Soon after, the Congress yet again appealed to Vokkaligas, with Mr. Siddaramaiah meeting the community leaders on Friday and describing himself as a “humanist” transcending caste affiliations. With polling still a month away, one may expect more such Vokkaliga outreach exercise by the Congress with an equally determined bid by the JD(S) to scuttle it.

The current campaigning by both the leaders has been spiced up with no-holds-barred attack and counter-attack every day which has raised the political temperature in the constituency. While Mr. Siddaramaiah has already completed his first round of constituency tour with focus on core Vokkaliga areas, the JD(S) has similar plans from April 14 to 16. With the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda set to tour the constituency separately, the rancour is only set to increase in the days ahead.

Delimitation impact

The 2018 elections will be Mr. Siddaramaiah’s foray into a predominantly Vokkaliga constituency as the delimitation exercise of 2008 truncated his traditional support base. Delimitation led to a a sizeable chunk of Kurubas and Dalits ending up in Varuna, the constituency which Mr. Siddaramaiah represented in 2008 and 2013. Varuna was newly created by merging Bannur with pockets of Chamundeshwari during the delimitation exercise.

Incidentally, Mr. Siddaramaiah made his political debut by being elected from the undivided Chamundeshwari segment in 1983 and subsequently won five times from here besides losing twice.