Karnataka MLC polls: Entry of KRRS, BSP, SDPI, independents worries BJP, Congress, JDS

MYSURU: With 20 candidates filing 33 sets of nomination papers for the Legislative Council election from the South Graduates’ Constituency, the entry of independents and other smaller political parties has worried Congress, BJP and JDS. Though till the previous election, the contest was between these three prominent political parties, the entry of independents is giving them the jitters.

With over 1.37 lakh voters in the South Graduates’ constituency, a winning candidate should get 55,000 first-preference votes. The entry of Raitha Sangha candidate Prasanna V Gowda, supported by DSS, Swaraj Party and over 17 organisations, and a show of strength before filing his nomination papers have sent warning signals to candidates from the three big parties. Raitha Sangha has reached out to rural, Dalit and other voters and has also targeted Vokkaligas, who constitute around 48,000 votes.

The Bahujan Samaj Party, which supported other candidates in the past, is now backing Channakeshva Murthy, targeting graduates from Dalit, backward and microscopic communities. SDPI has fielded its district president Raghath Ulla Khan to consolidate graduates from minority communities and Dalits. Congress and JDS are worried that the entry of these two parties could rob them of their traditional vote banks. JDS is already facing a rebellion with sitting MLC Marithibbe Gowda announcing that he would not campaign for JDS candidate HK Ramu.

The entry of South Graduates’ Constituency Forum member NS Vinay, a Lingayat, has worried BJP candidate YV Ravishankar. Vinay has been accused of luring the voters, while voters point to the absence of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa’s photo in BJP’s campaign material. The three major political parties have reworked their strategies to check the influence of independents and decided to appeal to graduates in taluks and cities for first-preference votes.