‘Upper caste dominated Congress in North, not South’

By playing up the leadership of Siddaramaiah in Karnataka, is Congress trying to become OBC-centric?
That is not true. Between 1989-94, we had Bangarappa and Veerappa Moily as CMs from OBC sections in Karnataka. Actually, Congress in south India differs from Congress in north India in its long history of accommodating OBCs. Congress in the north has been upper caste dominated for much longer than necessary. In the south — Kerala, Karnataka, undivided AP, Tamil Nadu — Congress was able to accommodate OBCs under its umbrella that it could not do in UP and Bihar. Look at Bihar. Between 1980-90, Bihar had six CMs — Jagannath Mishra, Bhagwat Jha Azad, Bindeshwari Dubey, Chandrashekar Singh, S N Sinha. And then what happens in 1990? Lalu Prasad comes. In UP, between 1980-90, there were five CMs — Sripati Mishra, N D Tiwari, V P Singh, Virbhadra Singh. But that has not been the story in the south.

Why does Congress character change according to geography?

Congress did well in south India on social engineering. One advantage in south is that upper castes are a lower proportion of the population and, hence, there is no backlash.

Is there a need for Congress to try social engineering in the north too?

Congress has been trying to replicate the south Indian model in the north, but we have not been successful. However, Congress’s greatest strength has been a broad-based umbrella alliance. We cannot be the ‘me-too party’. We have had the ability to derive support from every section of society and we should not lose that USP.

PM Modi has thrown all his might into the Karnataka campaign. Does it not worry Congress?

Modi’s is an extensive campaign but he is not campaigning for PMship. Karnataka has a long history of differentiating national mandates from state mandate. In 1984, Rajiv Gandhi won 27 out of 28 seats. Months later, Ramakrishna Hegde got a thumping majority.

But the PM’s campaign has turned things around for BJP in the past?

The only thing BJP has is the high-voltage campaign of the PM. Amit Shah’s campaign has been a disaster. Yeddyurappa is a face of corruption. So, barring Modi’s high-decibel campaign, there is nothing in BJP. But Modi is Modi. He gathers crowds, says outrageous things which get everybody agog. In contrast, Congress has a strong mass leader in Siddaramaiah, a strong party organisation and an active campaign by Rahul Gandhi.

Do you agree that Karnataka result will make or mar the fortunes of both BJP and Congress for 2019 elections?

A BJP defeat in Karnataka will have major implications for national politics. For BJP, to invest and then come out a loser, has national implications. In contrast, a change in government in Karnataka will not go against the electoral behaviour.