Tag: Polls

With an eye on upcoming polls, Telangana BJP promises ‘bulldozer raj’

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Hyderabad: With Assembly elections in Telangana only a few months away, BJP leaders are increasingly using the word bulldozer and promising to emulate the Uttar Pradesh model if voted to power in the state.
Last year, it had started with MLA Raja Singh, a controversial figure who has been booked on many occasions for hate speech.
Now, BJP’s state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar himself is promising bulldozer rule.
Sanjay, who is also a Member of Parliament, proudly speaks about the use of bulldozers by the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. At public meetings, he is promising that if voted to power in Telangana, the BJP will follow the UP model.
Last week, he promised that if voted to power, the BJP will bulldoze the houses of those indulging in crimes against women.
Exuding confidence that the BJP will come to power in Telangana, he said it would follow the model of Uttar Pradesh which is using bulldozers to demolish the houses of offenders.
He was speaking at a day-long protest at the party office in Hyderabad against the increasing atrocities on women in the state.
Sanjay made the remark while referring to the death of Preethi, a MD student of Kaktiya Medical College (KMC), who committed suicide recently due to alleged harassment by her senior.

Since Preethi’s senior who was allegedly harassing her was a Muslim student, the BJP is trying to exploit the incident for political gains with an eye on the coming elections.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders initially called it a case of love jihad. After the police denied that there was any communal angle or sexual harassment, Sanjay started alleging that the BRS government was siding with accused M. A. Saif.
Sanjay claimed that the government was acting in favour of the accused as it fears that the accused will cause communal riots.
The state government, however, has denied this. The ruling party leaders pointed out that the police acted swiftly to arrest Saif. “The government will not spare the guilty whether he is Saif or Sanjay,” remarked BRS working president and minister K. T. Rama Rao.
Bandi Sanjay, in his speech at the protest, only mentioned cases where the accused are Muslims and have links with the AIMIM.
Political observers say the BJP is looking for sensitive issues for polarising the voters on communal lines and it found one such issue in Preethi’s suicide.
By raking up such issues and speaking of bulldozers, the BJP appears to be building a narrative for the polls.
Last month, Sanjay threatened to demolish the domes of the new Secretariat building if his party was voted to power in the next elections. He says the domes reflect the culture of the Nizams and hence they will be demolished if the BJP comes to power.
The MP from Karimnagar is apparently trying to build a narrative which suits the party’s game plan to capture power.
BJP leaders have been targeting the BRS over its alleged policy of minority appeasement and its friendly ties with the AIMIM.
It is in this context that Sanjay faulted the design of the new Secretariat building to train his guns on the BRS and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
Sanjay alleged that Rao has turned the Secretariat into a tomb like the Taj Mahal to please AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi.
“If the BJP comes to power, it will destroy the symbols of the Nizam’s culture in the state. We will make changes in the state Secretariat so that it reflects the Indian and Telangana culture,” he said.
The seven-storey structure with a built-up area of 7 lakh square feet was constructed at a cost of nearly Rs 650 crore is ready for inauguration.
Sanjay even challenged municipal administration and urban development minister K. T. Rama Rao to demolish mosques on the roads in the old city of Hyderabad, considered a stronghold of the AIMIM.
Sanjay has been making provocative statements.
He had allegedly delivered a hate speech in May last year. Police complaints were filed against him at various police stations in the state for making provocative remarks against mosques and madarsas.
Alleging that Muslim rulers in Telangana demolished several temples and built mosques over them, he demanded digging at all the mosques, saying there was a possibility of finding Shiva Lingams underneath.
The BJP MP also stated that if his party comes to power in Telangana, it will abolish all the madarsas, do away with reservation for Muslims, and remove Urdu as the second official language.
The saffron party has been trying to exploit sensitive issues for political mileage. Be it KCR’s friendship with Owaisi, four per cent reservation for Muslims, the state government not officially celebrating September 17, second official language to the state or the demand to rename Hyderabad as Bhagynagar, the BJP leaders have apparently always tried to look for issues which lead to communal polarisation.
The BRS is countering the BJP by calling it a fight between development and destruction. “We are for development while they want demolition and destruction,” said Rama Rao.
It was Raja Singh who first talked of bulldozers.
He had sparked a row in February last year with his tweet amidst the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in February.
The firebrand leader had released a video after the second phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh, threatening voters that if they don’t cast their votes for the BJP their houses will be demolished and they will be driven out of the state.
After the BJP retained power in Uttar Pradesh, Raja Singh made another controversial statement on the subject, this time targeting the BRS and the AIMIM.
He remarked that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was sending a bulldozer to Telangana. “The way Yogi ji used bulldozers against the mafia in Uttar Pradesh, under Sanjay’s leadership bulldozers will be used in Telangana definitely against these goondas and MIM. No goonda or mafia will be spared in Telangana,” he said.
A few days later, Raja Singh urged people to make a list of the TRS’s corruption, encroachments, properties etc so that these structures could be bulldozed.
“A strong bulldozer will come to Telangana too to tear down the corruption of TRS like Yogi Adityanath ji ended the mafia in UP. I appeal to the public to identify all the corrupt activities and encroachments on public and private properties, land of poor and farmers by the MPs, MLAs and ministers of TRS,” said the MLA.
Exuding confidence that the BJP will form the next government in Telangana, Raja Singh said the party was readying the bulldozers. “We are planning one for every constituency,” he remarked.
Some political analysts believe that while bulldozer politics apparently yielded the BJP good dividends in states like Uttar Pradesh, its impact in Telangana may be confined to a few urban pockets.
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#eye #upcoming #polls #Telangana #BJP #promises #bulldozer #raj
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 12, 2023
Eye on polls: AIMIM conducting survey on condition of Muslims in Rajasthan

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Jaipur: The President of All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Asaduddin Owaisi, was in Jodhpur, the home turf of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, on Saturday for a survey on the condition of Muslims in the state.
Talking to the media, Owaisi said that a survey is being conducted on the condition of Muslims in Rajasthan. The report will be out sometime this month which shall be made public by March 25-26.
“Muslims have been made porters of secularism. When elections come, they say keep secularism alive, while others keep drowning it. For this reason I am getting the survey done by experts here,” he said.
Owaisi also talked to the media about AIMIM’s strategy for the Assembly elections in Rajasthan scheduled this year.
Owaisi said, “AIMIM will contest the elections in Rajasthan for which I am the visiting major cities of the state. My aim is to help my party’s candidates win.”
On forging alliance with other parties ahead of the polls, Owaisi said, “Only time will tell that.”
On choosing the CM’s home turf for launching his campaign, Owaisi said, “Doing public relations is not a bad thing. I also visited the Prime Minister’s parliamentary constituency and contested elections in Gujarat also.”

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#Eye #polls #AIMIM #conducting #survey #condition #Muslims #Rajasthan
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 12, 2023
Jammu Kashmir Politicians To Meet EC, Central Leaders For Early Polls, Statehood

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SRINAGAR: The non-BJP all-party meeting in Jammu convened by Dr Farooq Abdullah has decided that they will meet the Election Commission for early elections in federally ruled Jammu and Kashmir. They said the Lt Governor-led dispensation does not represent the people of the erstwhile state.
Dr Farooq Abdullah addressing a one day workers convention at Chitragam in Shopian on September 5,2022
“There is uncertainty everywhere in Jammu and Kashmir. It is the right of State Assembly to take a call on imposition of property tax like issues,” Dr Farooq has told the meeting. “This is a temporary government. It is not a people’s government. It is a government of Delhi. People’s government is Assembly where members have to decide what is right and what is wrong.”
Dr Abdullah told reporters that religion was used to create division between Hindus and Muslims in the region. “We must not forget that Jammu and Kashmir is a secular state and will remain secular. All faiths in the region live shoulder-by-shoulder together. Jammu and Kashmir is the crown of India and with the grace of God, it will remain the Crown of India in future as well,” he told the reporters after the meeting was over.
Regretting the politics of division, Dr Abdullah asked: “The politics of fear and hate is not new. What will they do to 22-24 crore Muslims? Will they throw them in the sea or will they send them to China?”
Dr Abdullah called for the restoration of statehood and early elections. “We want Statehood to be restored and elections to be held. For the first time in the history of the nation, a proud State was reduced to a Union Territory (UT). It was a tragedy,” Dr Abdullah said. “We are an integral part of the nation. We belong to this nation, so why are they doing this to us?”
Insisting that there was an uncalled delay in starting the democratic process, Dr Abdullah said the administration is claiming an improvement in the situation. “The government claims the situation has improved in Jammu and Kashmir. A G-20 meeting is being planned in May. Why the delay in conducting Assembly elections?” he said.
Announcing the outcome of the meeting, Dr Abdullah said a delegation of Jammu and Kashmir leaders will leave for Delhi and apprise all the national political parties about the prevailing situation. “Uncertainty prevails in Jammu and Kashmir after the Union government changed its status and took over all its affairs,” Dr Abdullah said. “We hope they will raise our issues appropriately in the upcoming Parliament session.”
Lashing at the media, the NC President said the media lacks the guts to broadcast the ground realities. “I know the situation is adverse right now and you too are forced to succumb before the circumstances,” he said.

The meeting hosted by Dr Farooq Abdullah at his Bathandi residence was attended by National Panthers Party leader Harshdev Singh, Congress chief Viqar Rasool Wani, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Taranjit Singh Tony, CPI(M) leader MY Tarigami, Shiv Sena president Manish Sahwany and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Amrik Singh Reen.

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#Jammu #Kashmir #Politicians #Meet #Central #Leaders #Early #Polls #Statehood
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

March 11, 2023
AP: Naidu announces TDP tie-up with PDF for upcoming polls

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Hyderabad: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday made it clear that his party had an alliance with the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) in the ongoing polls for the teachers and the graduate constituencies to avoid division of anti-incumbency votes to prevent Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP).
In view of the upcoming elections to be held on Monday, Naidu wrote an open letter to the voters which read, “Ever since the YSRCP came to power in the State, democracy is continuously being subjected to a virtual onslaught. As part of this attack, the ruling party is resorting to turn the upcoming elections into a farce.”
He said that in 2014, the TDP government strived hard to get investments to the state while facing several challenges and against heavy odds. “We have created 10 lakh jobs both in the public and private sector and also paid Rs 2,000 each as unemployment allowance to over 6 lakh youth,” said the former chief minister.
Naidu alleged that the companies are running away from the state due to “official terrorism by the government as a result of which unemployment is growing heavily, throwing the future of the youth into oblivion.”
“It is a known fact as to how this government has taken the youth for a ride with regard to the job calendar and district selection committee (DSC),” he added.
The TDP leader said that his party always accorded proper recognition to the employees and implemented 43 percent fitment despite facing problems due to bifurcation. “On top of it all, salaries were paid on the first of every month even after the state faced several financial problems,” he added.
“But now leave alone the fitment as demanded by the employees, salaries are not being paid on time,” he alleged.
“The whole State has witnessed how teachers were humiliated by drafting them for security duty to liquor shops,” said Naidu urging teachers and graduates to keep this in mind before exercising their franchise.

He said that there were large-scale irregularities by the YSRCP government during local body polls held two years ago. He alleged that the opposition party candidates were not even allowed to file their nominations.
“It has become a habit for this government to resort to irregularities in elections and in the ongoing polls too, it has raised curtains to the registration of bogus votes and forgeries,” said Naidu accusing the government.
Urging the voters to act sensibly and with awareness, Naidu said that several voters who enrolled themselves with the poll panel admitted that they are not graduates. “In Tirupati city alone seven lakh such voters were enrolled while in North Andhra over five lakh such voters were found,” he added.
He informed that the TDP party and other opposition parties have already complained to the Election Commission regarding bogus votes.
He called upon the voters to elect Vepada Chiranjeevi Rao, TDP candidate from North Andhra Graduates constituency, Kancherla Srikanth, party candidate from East Rayalaseema Graduates segment, Bhumireddy Rajagopal Reddy from West Rayalaseema, and other candidates from the TDP and PDF parties.
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#Naidu #announces #TDP #tieup #PDF #upcoming #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 11, 2023
Karnataka Assembly polls: Senior citizens, people with disability to get vote-from-home option

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Bengaluru: Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar said on Saturday announced that all senior citizens above 80 and people with disability will get a vote-from-home option in the Karnataka Assembly elections.
The term of the 224-member Karnataka Assembly is set to end on May 24.
“The term of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly is till May 24, 2023. So, the new Assembly has to be in place, and elections have to be completed before that,” said Kumar.
Kumar further said that form 12D will be available within five days of the notification so that any 80 plus or PwD voter, desirous of voting from home, can be facilitated.
“For the first time, we are going to provide in Karnataka the facility to all 80 plus and Persons with Disabilities (PwD) voters, if they so desire, to vote even from their homes. There is a form 12D which will be available within five days of the notification so that any 80 plus or PwD voter, desirous of voting from home, can be facilitated,” the CEC added.
In the 2018 Assembly elections, BJP won 104 seats and emerged as the single largest party, while the Congress and JD(S) bagged 78 and 37 seats, respectively.
The three-member Election Commission of India is on a three-day visit to Karnataka to review preparations.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel are in Bengaluru to review the poll preparedness for forthcoming Assembly Elections in Karnataka, the ECI had said in a tweet.

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#Karnataka #Assembly #polls #Senior #citizens #people #disability #votefromhome #option
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 11, 2023
Telangana teachers’ constituency polls: Special leave for govt teachers on March 13

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Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India has announced the biennial election poll to the Telangana Legislative Council from Mahabubnagar – Ranga Reddy – Hyderabad teachers constituency to be held on March 13.
The poll will be held on Monday from 8 am to 4 pm in Hyderabad, Jogulamba-Gadwal, Mahabubnagar, Medchal-Malkajgiri, Narayanpet, Nagarkurnool, Ranga Reddy, Vikarabad and Wanaparthy.
Telangana Chief Electoral Office has ordered a special casual leave to the central and state government employees on the day of the poll, to enable them to exercise their right of franchise.
However, the employees of the private establishments were informed that there is no provision to declare a general holiday for the elections to State Legislative Councils under the Representation of People Act, 1951.
Hyderabad district election officer urged the private schools, colleges, universities, management, and authorities to grant necessary facilities to their employees who are registered voters in the constituencies to take part in the polls.
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#Telangana #teachers #constituency #polls #Special #leave #govt #teachers #March

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 9, 2023
BRS candidates file nominations for council polls

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Hyderabad: Three candidates of Telangana’s ruling party Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Thursday filed nominations for State Legislative Council polls under MLA quota.
Deshapati Srinivas, K. Naveen Kumar and Challa Venkatrami Reddy filed their papers after paying homage to the Telangana martyrs at Martyrs’ Memorial in front of the Assembly building.
Ministers Harish Rao, Niranjan Reddy, Prashanth Reddy, Malla Reddy, T. Srinivas Yadav, Jagdish Reddy, MLC P. Rajeswara Rao and some other MLAs and MLCs were present at the time of filing of nominations.
While Naveen Kumar filed for the papers for the second term, two others are contesting for the first time for the upper house of the state legislature.
Poet and singer Deshpati Srinivas is currently serving as Officer on Special Duty in the Chief Minister’s Office while Venkatrami Reddy is a former MLA from Alampur constituency.
Biennial elections to three MLC seats are scheduled to take place on March 23. As per the schedule already announced by the Election Commission of India, candidates can file their nominations till March 13. Scrutiny of nominations will be done on March 14 while the deadline for withdrawal of candidatures is March 16.
With more than 100 members in 119-member Assembly, all three candidates of BRS are likely to be elected unopposed.
BRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday announced the candidates for the MLC polls.

The names of the two candidates to be nominated by the Governor are likely to be announced after the cabinet meeting later on Thursday.
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#BRS #candidates #file #nominations #council #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 9, 2023
Hyderabad: 17.6K fresh voters enrolled for upcoming SCB polls

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Hyderabad: As many as 17604 new voters from all eight wards of Secunderabad Cantonment have submitted claims for inclusion in the electoral roll during the fresh voter enrolment drive held from March 2 to 4.
The newbies will be added to the existing 1,32,722 voters for SCB polls scheduled for April 30.
This accounts for a total of 1,50,326 residents of SCB who will be practising their vote on the polling day.
Out of the 17604 new voters, 16689 are civilians, while 915 are members of the Army who have registered for inclusion in the voters’ list.
Eight teams, each comprising senior SCB officials and two employees, were deployed on Thursday in each ward to accept applications from the public in order to facilitate the enrollment drive.
Objections to the claims will be heard from March 14 to 16, and the final draft of the voters’ list will be published and displayed on the SCB main office board on March 23.
The list will also be uploaded on the official website for the voters to verify their registrations.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 7, 2023
AIMIM announces first list of candidates for Karnataka Assembly polls

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The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has released the first list of candidates for upcoming assembly polls in Karnataka.
As per the announcement, Lateef Khan Amir Khan Pathan is going to contest from Belagavi North-11 whereas, Durgappa Kashappa Bijawad and Allabaksh Mehboob Sab Bijapur are candidates from Hubli-Dhadwad-East-72 and Basavana Bhagewadi-28 respectively.
AIMIM to contest in Rajasthan too
Earlier, AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi announced that his party will contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Rajasthan and Karnataka.
Addressing the 65th formation day celebrations of AIMIM at its headquarters in Darussalam, he also exuded confidence that the party will increase its strength in Telangana in the elections scheduled later this year.
Owaisi asked his party cadres to gear up for the Telangana Assembly elections. “The poll bugle for the Telangana Assembly elections has been sounded,” he said.
Karnataka, Rajasthan and Telangana Assembly polls
While Karnataka is scheduled to go for assembly elections before May 2023, the polls in Rajasthan and Telangana will be held before the end of the current year.
The elections in Karnataka will elect 224 MLAs whereas, polls in Telangana and Rajasthan will elect 119 and 200 MLAs respectively.
In Karnataka, BJP is struggling to retain power and making all efforts to reform the government after the polls.

On the other hand, the party is leaving no stone unturned to win a majority of seats in the Karnataka and Telangana Assembly elections.
In Telangana, TRS-friendly party AIMIM may also consider an option to increase their seat share in the upcoming polls in the state. Currently, it has seven MLAs in the state assembly.
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#AIMIM #announces #list #candidates #Karnataka #Assembly #polls
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 6, 2023
BJP falls back on Yediyurappa, makes him ‘mascot’ for Assembly polls

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Bengaluru: The BJP seems to be falling back on its seasoned oarsman B S Yediyurappa making him a key poll mascot, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as it shores up campaign in poll-bound Karnataka.
The octogenarian, who has already announced his retirement from electoral politics, is sought to be put on the pedestal by the governing party’s central leaders.
The reasons are not far to seek as to why Yediyurappa has been pushed to the top of the campaign plank, the four-time Chief Minister, who built the party from grassroots level, has a mass appeal and connect — particularly the political influential Lingayat community — that no other party leader in the State commands.
It’s now quite evident from the BJP’s campaign narrative that the party is banking on the “Yediyurappa factor” and putting him up as the “poster boy” by leveraging his clout to the hilt.
The BJP central leadership — Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party President J P Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh — have been lavish in their praise of Yediyurappa, during their public meetings in the State in recent days.
It’s not often that in PM’s programme, someone else hogs the limelight, but on one such occasion on February 27, at a public meeting in Shivamogga, it appeared that Modi himself was giving the Karnataka BJP strongman a “pride of place” in his “Karma Bhoomi”.
The recent public meeting marking the inauguration of the Shivamogga airport, coinciding with Yediyurappa’s 80th birthday, saw Modi terming his contributions to public life ‘inspirational.’
The PM felicitated him on stage as he made an appeal to the people attending the public meeting to flash their mobile phone lights in a gesture of honour to Yediyurappa and there was an enthusiastic response from the large gathering.

Then, as the Lingayat strongman concluded his speech, Modi stood up and applauded him. The PM has also made it a point repeatedly to highlight the last speech delivered by Yediyurappa in the Karnataka assembly recently, and said it was an inspiration to every person in public life.
Amit Shah too at a public meeting recently had urged the people to repose faith in Modi and Yediyurappa and vote the BJP back to power in the State.
Similar comments have been made by Nadda and Rajnath Singh, who were recently in the state for campaigning.
According to some political observers and BJP insiders, the party’s move to project Yediyurappa seems to be aimed at blunting anti-incumbency, keeping the Lingayat vote-base intact and countering the opposition Congress, which has levelled allegations of corruption against the government.
Political analyst A Narayana from the Azim Premji University, said the BJP was initially preparing to face elections without Yediyurappa in an active role but “as there was not much for the party to count on locally, it was inevitable for them to repackage and present him”.
That’s the reason they are going out of their way to prove that they have not offended him by asking to resign as Chief Minister in 2021, he said.
“They (BJP) tried their best to secure Lingayat support without Yediyurappa, but they are not very confident about it, that’s the reason they are doing it. They could have afforded to lose some Lingayat support, provided they were confident about cultivating support from some other communities, which also they don’t seem to be very confident about ,” Narayana said.
Yediyurappa resigned as CM on July 26, 2021. Age was seen as a primary factor for his exit from the top job, with an unwritten rule in the BJP of keeping out those above 75 years from elected offices. Also, the BJP central leadership wanted to make way for new leadership ahead of the Assembly polls.
Unlike the 2018 poll campaign, when Yediyurappa was the CM candidate and face of the party, the BJP this time has opted for a collective approach, though it initially tried to project Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s leadership.
Narayana said: “BJP tried to win over Lingayats through Bommai, but they don’t seem to be confident about having achieved that, with all the discontent brewing on issues such as reservation. “
“Also as long as Yediyurappa is there and as long as he is an unhappy man, it is not possible for another Lingayat leader to cultivate Lingayat support”, he said, adding that this is quite obviously one of the reasons why BJP wants to keep Yediyrappa in good spirits.
With the party now putting Yediyurappa in the forefront of campaign, Bommai’s stake seems to have weakened, according to poll observers and some within the BJP, even as a section within the party credits him for pro-people schemes, reservation hike for SC/ST and for presenting an all inclusive budget.
According to another party functionary, retaining Lingayat vote base, despite Yediyurappa not being its CM face, is crucial for the BJP to win the election with absolute majority, and that’s the reason why the party wants to assure the dominant community, that he is still relevant to it.
He also pointed to disgruntlement among a section of Lingayat community, especially the ‘Panchamasali Lingayats’ on the issue of reservation, and said it may pose a threat, and it needs to be mitigated immediately.
“It has to be communicated effectively that along with being the BJP’s top Parliamentary Board member, Yediyurappa is still the party’s face or mascot in Karnataka,” he said.
BJP state General Secretary N Ravi Kumar said Yediyurappa is a big mass leader in Karnataka and he is someone who built and nurtured the party in the state.
“He is a four time CM and two time Leader of Opposition, he knows nook and corner of the state, he is leader of all communities including Lingayats, and people from all sections respect him. He is naturally projected as one of the faces, what is wrong?” Ravi Kumar asked.
“There may be some amount of anti-incumbency, I’m not totally rejecting it, all governments will have it, but Bommai has given a good budget and has given good programmes….it is the creation of Congress, why didn’t they speak positively about Yediyurappa so far and are doing it now? it is because Congress’ strategy is to attract positive public opinion about Yediyurappa in their favour,” he said.
Yediyurappa too on his part had recently appealed to the dominant Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, to which he belongs, to continue their support to the ruling BJP in the upcoming Assembly polls, and ensure its victory in the State.
This statement has come amid attempts by opposition Congress and JD(S) to project that Yediyurappa is being sidelined by the BJP, as they sought to woo the numerically and politically dominant community.
Veerashaiva-Lingayats are estimated to form about 17 per cent of the State’s population, and they form the BJP’s strong vote base. Yediyurappa is considered to be the “tallest” Veerashaiva-Lingayat leader and continues to hold sway over the community.
It appears that the former CM, in return, is seeking to secure the political future of his sons.
While announcing that he will not contest assembly polls, Yediyurappa in the same breath had said that he will be vacating his Shikaripura Assembly seat, from where his younger son and the party’s state Vice-President B Y Vijayendra will be contesting, if the high command agrees.
Yediyurappa, soon after stepping down as CM in 2021, wanted to make Vijayendra Minister, through the MLC route, but was not successful in his attempts. His elder son, B Y Raghavendra is Member of Parliament from Shivamogga.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 5, 2023