Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018: Party-hoppers fish in uncertain waters

Party-hopping may not be new in politics, but the run-up to the May 12 Assembly elections in Karnataka has seen an unprecedented number of prominent politicians crossing the floor — about 50 in just a month.

And about 30 of them have managed to get tickets to contest polls from different political parties. The Bharatiya Janata Party tops the list as it has given tickets to 15 leaders from other parties who joined its fold just ahead of the polls. This is followed by the ruling Congress, which has fielded about 10 leaders from other parties. At the rear, the Janata Dal (S) has provided tickets to five candidates from other parties.

Back to basics

Not surprisingly, there are several candidates and prominent political leaders who have had a stint with all three major political parties —Congress, BJP and JD(S). In fact, some of these leaders have begun their second innings with a return to their original parties.

Revolving door

MLA A.S. Nadahalli, who was expelled by the ruling Congress, however, has taken party-hopping to new heights. After he was expelled by the Congress, Mr Nadahalli associated himself with the JD(S), which gave him ticket for the Assembly polls. But he surprised everyone by quitting the JD(S) and joining the BJP, which also offered him a ticket to contest.

The contestants who have been with all the three major political parties include, C.P. Yogeshwar, Malikayya Guttedar, Nadahalli, V. Somanna — all are presently in BJP — and A.R. Krishnamurthy with the Congress.

Not all these birds of passage have been rewarded, with several failing to get tickets despite crossing the floor such as former BJP MLA Beluru Gopalakrishna from Sagar. Mr. Gopalakrishna, who began as a BJP MLA, joined the JD(S) in 2013 during the previous elections. After losing the polls, he returned to the BJP fold. This time, he switched to the Congress after the BJP denied him a ticket but failed to get a ticket from the ruling party, too.

Fresh pastures

Senior leaders say largescale party-hopping is due to the fact that all the parties are looking to expand their base through lateral entries. All the three political parties, especially the JD(S) and BJP, do not have a strong presence across the State.

Ironically, Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah is from the Janata parivar, like several other legislators in both the Congress and the BJP who began their political careers in the JD(S). BJP State President B. S. Yeddyurappa too has changed parties as he returned to the BJP after a brief stint with Karnataka Janata Party. In fact, veteran Congress leader S. M. Krishna too quit the Congress with which he had a long association and joined the BJP in March 2017, more than a year ahead of the Assembly elections.