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Karnataka CM Bommai looks set for one-sided contest on home turf
Bommai’s campaigning blitzkrieg on April 19 has virtually ensured that the limited hope the demoralised Congress workers had in Shiggaon was finished.
With hands on hips, Tabassum Hessaru looks at one of her workers tying oranges to make an 18ft garland. As the crane meant to lift the garland blocks the entrance of the road leading to Mehboob Nagar, a small hamlet close to Shiggaon town, she asks the worker to hurry.
“The order is from the local Bharatiya Janata Party leader to facilitate chief minister Basavaraj Bommai,” she said. “Last time, we made the garland with apples,” she says. “Whom did you say the Congress fielded? (Mohammed Yousuf) Savanur? He is not even from Shiggaon. Then it is decided; Bommai will win again.”
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In Mehboob Nagar, which has voters from Muslim, scheduled caste and Lingayat communities, the consensus is that Bommai will return. Standing outside his house, 68-year-old Yellappa Hadimini said he won’t be thinking of any party before voting. “Around 10 years ago, we didn’t have drinking water. We had to get it from outside. Bommai avaru (sir) gave us water and even came to our street after becoming chief minister. I am for that person,” Hadimini said.
A few kilometres away, at Bommai’s Shiggaon home, party officer bearers were all smiles. “The Congress has fielded an outsider. He is a Muslim association member from Hubblli,” said an office bearer who didn’t want to be named.
On April 19, hours after Congress announced the candidature of Savanur, president of Anjuman-e-Islam Hubballi-Dharwad, the party withdrew its decision. Realising that Savanur didn’t have a base in the constituency, in a late-night announcement, the Congress announced a new candidate, Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan.
“Savanur was given the seat here as a consolation. He was the party ticket aspirant from Hubballi Central assembly constituency, but Jagadish Shettar shifted to Congress and has become a Congress candidate, so to pacify him the seat was given to him. When the BJP is fielding (minister V) Somanna and (minister R) Ashoka against Siddaramaiah and DK (Shivakumar), here we were fielding such candidates against the sitting chief minister,” said a Congress functionary in Haveri, who declined being named.
“Even Pathan won’t make any difference. The fight is now one-sided. We wonder if we should even campaign,” said the Congress functionary, adding that the party had a chance to defeat the chief minister if they had fielded former minister Vinay Kulkarni. “We were ready for the challenge, the former MLA (Ajjampeer) Khadri had given his support to ensure Kukarni’s win, but the party decided otherwise,” he said.
Lingayats and Muslims are dominant in Shiggaon. Of the 80,000 Veershaiva-Lingayat voters in Shiggaon constituency, only 16,000 belong to Bommai’s sub-sect. A large chunk is from the Panchamasali community. There are at least 60,000 minority voters, apart from the Veerashaiva-Lingayats. The remaining comprise 40,000 Dalits and 24,000 members of the Kuruba community, according to a Congress leader.
“The caste combination also helped Bommai in the previous three elections. But this time, Veerashaiva-Lingayat Panchamasali voters were disturbed. Recently, there was a protest by members of the Panchamasali Lingayats community in Shiggaon over reservations and they are upset over the recent issues with Shettar. If we had fielded Kulkarni (a Panchamasali leader), we had a fighting chance,” said another Congress functionary, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Although the Congress talks about equations, the support for Bommai is beyond communities, according to Suma Koppal, a teacher at a day care centre in Shiggaon. “Neither did the Congress nor Kulkarni give us drinking water facility 10 years ago. He (Bommai) didn’t look at the community when he did this. So, people won’t look at the community when they vote,” she said.
Bommai’s campaigning blitzkrieg on April 19 has virtually ensured that the limited hope the demoralised Congress workers had in Shiggaon was finished. Bommai held a massive roadshow along with BJP national president JP Nadda and Kannada film star Kichcha Sudeep in his constituency. A large crowd had gathered as Bommai, Nadda and Sudeep travelled through the streets in a specially-designed vehicle before addressing a public rally.
Bommai made an emotional appeal to his constituents and said that he will serve Shiggaon “till his last breath”. “You have been blessed with your faith for 15 years. Our bond is divine. No one can come in the way of this. Till my last breath I will serve you,” the chief minister had said.
The BJP will return to power, winning more than 125 seats in the 224-member assembly, he said. “Those in the opposition claimed that I will contest from a different constituency. They said the chief minister was looking for a new seat. I’m not a chief minister who runs away. If I die, I want to be buried in Shiggaon,” he said, later seeking permission from the constituents to allow him to campaign in other constituencies to ensure the party’s victory.
Talking to HT after filing his nomination on April 19, Bommai had said his connection with the people will ensure his victory. “I am the chief minister, but I know each and every street here. Even after becoming chief minister, they have seen me walking on these streets,” he said. “I can call more than 25,000 people here by name. This relationship I have will give me a victory.”
