In B’luru North, Karandlaje faces a tough challenge from Congress
In this election, Congress candidate MV Rajeev Gowda, a Vokkaliga, is taking on Shobha Karandlaj, who hails from the coastal region and is a Bunt Vokkaliga
In Bengaluru North Lok Sabha constituency, the atmosphere of electioneering is charged with a blend of emotions. As the incumbent MP, DV Sadananda, sits in a state of sulking disappointment after missing out on the ticket, it has stirred mixed feelings among the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers. This sentiment has been further amplified by the surprise parachuting of Union minister Shobha Karandlaje from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru to contest in Sadananda’s place. Meanwhile, a resolute Congress has added to the electoral dynamic, determined to disrupt the BJP’s winning streak since 2009.
The second-largest constituency in India after Malkajgiri in Telangana in terms of voters, Bengaluru North with 31,74,098 electorates was initially a Congress bastion. Of the 17 Lok Sabha polls held since 1951, the Congress has won on 12 occasions. It has become the BJP’s stronghold since 2004, and the unique aspect of this constituency is that the party has given tickets people from outside the constituency. In 2004, former police officer HT Sangliana hailing from Mizoram won followed by D B Chandre Gowda from Chikkamagaluru in 2009 and Sadananda Gowda from Dakshina Kannada in 2014 and 2019, and now Karandlaje from Udupi.
Veteran Congress leader, late CK Jaffer Sharief, used to be the Congress choice until 2009, when he lost to Chandre Gowda. The seat slipped from the Congress’s hands when Sharief from the Congress and CM Ibrahim from the Janata Dal (Secular) contested resulting in the minority votes getting divided and Sangaliana, a Christian, emerged as the winner in 2004. Later, the Congress and BJP chose to pit Vokkaliga candidates against each other as the constituency has a huge chunk of the community’s votes. In this election, Congress candidate MV Rajeev Gowda, a Vokkaliga, is taking on Karandlaje, who hails from the coastal region and is a Bunt Vokkaliga.
Karandlaje, the incumbent MP of Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, faced opposition from her party workers in the constituency with “Go back” slogans. To dissipate the anger against her, the party leadership shifted her to Bengaluru North, where she was greeted with the same slogans.
Reacting to the protests, she said: “Men think that power should always vest with them. People with such a mindset resort to such slogans. I am handling the responsibilities assigned by the party with honesty and commitment and confident that the party leadership will respond to such campaigns.”
Gowda has capitalised on the outpour of anger by BJP workers against Karandlaje. “She faced ‘go back’ slogans in Udupi-Chikkamagaluru from her own people. In Bengaluru North, many are not cooperating with her. So basically, people feel she is not a candidate to be supported,” he said.
Gowda said his profile of being a former professor at Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bengaluru, and a former Rajya Sabha MP will bring in additional voters from the educated class.
“My prospects look bright as the five guarantees of the Congress government in Karnataka have done amazingly well and people have got the confidence that we can be believed,” he told the Hindustan Times.
His profile of being a former professor, national spokesperson of the party, and vice-chairman of the State Institute for Transformation of Karnataka (SITK), created on the lines of Niti Aayog, has resulted in many from the civic society forming target groups to campaign for him. These groups comprising writers, former bureaucrats, and scientists are funding themselves to campaign for him.
While dismissing any Modi wave in the constituency, Gowda said: “The biggest challenge for me is to connect with the 32 lakh (3.2 million) voters, which is difficult, but the party workers are charged up.”
He claimed that those who had voted for the BJP in earlier elections now wanted to switch to his side.
“The reason is - people say Karandlaje only causes communal confusion, division, and polarization and are not happy with that. Bengaluru people want to enjoy a good quality of life and grow and prosper. They don’t want this area to become communally charged and divided,” he asserted.
Of the eight Assembly segments comprising the constituency, five were won by the BJP and three by the Congress in the 2023 Assembly polls. However, BJP MLA representing Yeshwanthpur, ST Somashekar, has embarrassed the party by openly campaigning for Gowda. In the Rajya Sabha elections held recently, Somashekar, defying the BJP whip, had voted for the Congress candidate, saying it was a “conscience vote.”
Former Deputy Mayor of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and President of BJP Bengaluru North unit, S Harish said Somashekhar openly working for the BJP will not impact the party in any way.
“The BJP managed when its official candidate L Chandrashekar during the Ramanagara bypoll in 2018 ran away and re-joined the Congress two days before the bypoll. Hence, Somasehkhar’s case is nothing new,” he stated.
With the BJP unable to take a lead or win the Pulakeshi seat, Harish said in every Lok Sabha poll from 2009, the party takes into account only seven of the eight Assembly segments for strategising its victory.
“Pulakeshinagar has 1.33 lakh (133,000) minorities and my party has always started with a minus 1.33 lakh votes from the community for the two decades,” he maintained.
Congress MLA representing Pulakeshinagar AC Srinivasa said he was confident that his constituency will give a minimum lead of one lakh to Gowda in this election as well.
“Of the 2.50 lakh (250,000) voters in my constituency, 1.33 lakh (133,000)are minorities (Muslims and Christians combined). My winning margin of 62,210 votes was the highest among all the Bengaluru constituencies and fourth in the state,” he added.
Karandlaje got a boost when former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy shared the platform with her in Dasarahalli on April 21. Her election plank has been Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This is an election to save India’s culture and Sanatana traditions,” has been her campaign card. However, her statement linking Tamil Nadu with Rameshwaram Cafe blast incurred the wrath of Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin for which she apologised later.
Meanwhile, Sadananda Gowda seems to still not have got over the disappointment of missing the ticket.
“I had retired from electoral politics six months ago but was given hopes that I would be renominated. The denial of the ticket has hurt me and I don’t want to comment more as it will lead to confusion,” he said. According to him, the BJP’s victory in the constituency solely depends on national issues and Modi.
It’s a tough battle Karandlaje faces, while Gowda is looking at cashing in on the likely shift of traditional BJP votes into his kitty.