Ramnagara/Channapatna, Karnataka: With opinion polls projecting a tight finish and in some cases even a dead heat, H. D. Kumaraswamy and his party, the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), sees an opportunity to return to the centre stage of Karnataka politics.
JD(S), which enjoys the support of the prominent Vokkaliga community, plays a decisive role in the Old Mysore region and is led by its national president H. D. Deve Gowda, a former prime minister.
Taking no chances, Kumaraswamy is contesting from two seats. Ramnagara and Channapatna are adjacent constituencies. Presumably the former chief minister is aware that in 2013, his wife, Anitha Kumaraswamy, lost a closely contested poll by a margin of 6,000 votes from Channapatna.
After the dismal performance of the party in the last two assembly elections with just 40 seats in 2013 and 28 in 2008, JD(S) is hoping anti-incumbency against the ruling Congress and the consolidation of the crucial Vokkaliga community which plays a dominant role in the Old Mysore region could help it retain all its seats.
“H. D. Kumaraswamy wants to maximize his chances and consolidate his voters; that is why is contesting from both the constituencies which are adjacent. He doesn’t have to even campaign in Ramnagara, people vote for him anyway. The contest in Channapatna is interesting because both the prominent candidates are Vokkaliga,” said S. Manjunath, 34-year-old farmer in Channapatna constituency.
To the benefit of JD(S), the Vokkaligas are annoyed with chief minister Siddaramaiah as the community complains that the Congress chief minister is only working for the benefit of his support base and not for all the communities of the state.
“The chief minister is doing work for a few communities and Vokkaligas are not benefitting from his work. There is only one party which works for the benefit of Vokkaligas, the other two parties have never tried to help the community,” said N. S. Ravi, a 50-year-old in Ramnagara constituency.
Vokkaligas, who account for nearly 12% of the voter base, are annoyed with both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for ignoring the community.
The immediate anger is against the Congress as the people in the region believe that this time JD(S) could well be the king-maker in case of a hung assembly and the party could yet again be in power in Bengaluru.
“It was a mistake to walk out of the alliance with the BJP. But this time JD(S) will be part of the government, we are confident that JD(S) will play a decisive role during government formation. I believe that no single party would get a clear majority and JD(S) will be the king-maker,” said Shivalingaya, 60-year-old farmer in Ramnagara constituency
However, the BJP leadership is not pleased and continues to doubt Kumaraswamy and his party for not respecting the mandate of the coalition in 2006 when both the parties had joined hands to form government.
“JD(S) is not a people-centric party but a Vokkaliga-centric party. This image has to change. On their own they have no stakes so will have to struggle with unwilling partnerships. It is difficult for H. D. Deve Gowda to wield his influence if the party fails to get more seats. It is both survival and opportunistic,” said Harish Ramaswamy, political analyst and professor of political science at Karnataka University, Dharwad.