The Lok Sabha elections in Ballari Parliamentary constituency is crucial both for the Congress and the BJP as the outcome will show whether the Congress will re-establish its hold on a constituency that was once its bastion, or whether a resurgent BJP will dominate.
The Congress’ win in all the elections held between 1952 and 2000 in the constituency had made it a ‘safe’ seat for the party. This could explain why the then AICC president Sonia Gandhi contested from here in 1999 defeating BJP’s Sushma Swaraj.
But in the 2004 elections, the BJP, for the first time, wrested the seat from the Congress, with the power and influence of the Reddy brothers and mining barons — G. Karunakara Reddy, G. Janardhan Reddy, and G. Somashekara Reddy — and their close associate B. Sriramulu. The saffron party continued to dominate by retaining the seat for almost three consecutive terms.
The constituency, after the delimitation process held in 2008, was reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST).
However, in 2018 the Congress was able to regain its citadel. In the bypolls — which was held following the resignation of Mr. Sriramulu to contest in the Assembly polls — Congress put up a united fight against the waning popularity of Reddy brothers.
The peculiarity of the constituency is that the voters are politically divided. While earlier the electoral fight was between the Congress and Janata Dal, after 2004, the Janata Dal (S) position was taken over by the BJP. The former lost its base after former Chief Minister and veteran politician Ramakrishna Hegde was expelled from the party by JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. The BJP went on to win a hat trick, while the JD(S) could not win in a single election.
Though there are chronic issues plaguing the region, elections are not fought over them. In fact, as the 2018 byelections showed, even the ‘outsider’ tag became irrelevant.
In this election, the Congress, holding six of the total eight Assembly segments, is buoyant and hopes to repeat the 2018 byelection performance. They are projecting the achievements of the UPA government, especially the amendment to Article 371 (J) granting special status to the Hyderabad-Karnataka region and accusing the Narendra Modi government of failing to fulfil the promises made to the people during the 2014 elections. The party has renominated V.S. Ugrappa, a close confidant of coalition coordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah, as its candidate.
Waning influence
The BJP has fielded Y. Devendrappa, who crossed over from the Congress recently. That the party has chosen a comparative newcomer instead of choosing from one among the Reddy brothers’ group, clearly indicates that the Reddy brothers and Sriramulu’s hold over Ballari has fizzled out. More importantly, Mr. Devendrappa is a close relative of Ramesh Jharkiholi, one of the leading members of the Congress rebel group. In its campaigning, the BJP is highlighting the achievements of the Modi government, the welfare programmes announced, and the safety and security of the country.