Saffron spreads in Siddaramaiah’s home turf, Congress fortress

MYSURU: Chamarajnagar and Mysuru districts in the Old Mysore region, which have traditionally been a fortress of the Congress, is slowly but surely witnessing a change in the hinterland. 

BJP MP and senior Dalit leader V Srinvasa Parasad has been working overtime to bring the urban civic bodies in his Lok Sabha constituency under the BJP fold and has already tasted success in Kollegal, Chamarajnagar and Hanur municipalities with some deft manoeuvring.

In what would have seemed unthinkable, the BJP aligned with the Congress to wrest power in the Hanur Town Panchayat election while keeping the JDS at bay.

This move has been played out at a time when the gram panchayat polls are round the corner.

Although, the Congress and the BJP had fought tooth and nail in the Lok Sabha election, Prasad managed to co-opt Congress MLA R Narendra, with eight members on his side, and keep the JD(S), with six members, out. In the bargain, Congress got the vice-president’s post.

In the Kollegal City Municipal Council, Srinivasa Prasad managed to win over MLA N Mahesh’s faction of BSP councillors and an Independent. With 14 party candidates and his own vote, the BJP managed the numbers on its side against Congress and SDPI, which together have 12 members. This came as a major setback to sitting Congress MLA Puttaranga Shetty.

The BJP won comfortably on its own and came back to power in the Nanjangud City Municipal Council and the Gundlupet Town Municipal Council. With the party now in power in about six civic bodies in the district, the Congress is keeping its folk together in Yalandur, T Narasipur and H D Kote to stop BJP from further concerning the political space.

On BJP and Congress coming together, Srinivasa Prasad said that it is a local arrangement in the interest of development. However,  former Congress MP R Druvanarayan termed it opporunistic and also criticised the BSP for having joined hands to share power.  He said that the BJP and BSP have no morals and they are exposed in the eyes of the people. He also felt that this will not work  for long. Asked about Congress joining hands with BJP to share power in Hanur, he termed it unfortunate.