The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : BJP wins but chinks in its armour are exposed

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Wednesday, Dec 31, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

BJP wins but chinks in its armour are exposed

B.S. Satish Kumar

Party fails to make an impact in the Old Mysore area, stronghold of Opposition parties

BANGALORE: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in five out of the eight Assembly constituencies that went to byelections has not only given a clear majority to the party in the Legislative Assembly, but also strengthened the position of Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa within the party.

After launching “Operation Kamala”, an unofficial code name for the party’s strategy to increase its strength in the Assembly, the onus was on Mr. Yeddyurappa to ensure the victory of the candidates who had been handpicked by him to contest the high-stake byelections. Seven MLAs from the Opposition Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) had quit their Assembly membership and joined the BJP as part of this strategy.

There was a possibility of “Operation Kamala” boomeranging on Mr. Yeddyurappa if the Opposition parties had put up an effective and organised fight, and if his detractors within the party had used it as a tool to settle scores with him. However, Mr. Yeddyurappa has managed the situation well as the party won a majority of the seats though it could not make a clean sweep. The victory has come mostly due to the division in the secular votes.

Fault lines

At the same time, party insiders said that the results of the byelections had exposed the chinks in the BJP’s armour as it failed to make an impact in the Old Mysore area, which is traditionally dominated by the Janata Dal (S) and the Congress. The BJP was keen to make inroads into some of the Vokkaliga-dominated areas in the byelections, keeping an eye on the coming general elections to the Lok Sabha.

Given these considerations, the BJP strategy managers were not entirely happy with the outcome of the bypolls.

They felt that the BJP’s chances would have been brighter if the Congress had fared well in the old Mysore region as the triangular fight has always helped the BJP.

According to sources in the BJP, there is a likelihood of the Chief Minister effecting some changes in his ministry in about a month to provide “better portfolios” to some of the dominant Ministers who won the byelections and also to balance the representation to various districts in the Ministry. Though the BJP has a clear majority now, the party has made it clear that it would not drop five independents who had offered their support to form the government, from the Ministry.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Janata Dal (S) managed to put up a strong resistance to the BJP by winning three seats in the Old Mysore area, including the keenly-fought Madhugiri constituency. This has instilled confidence among the party cadre as the party had managed to keep its traditional vote base intact in the old Mysore area.

The party is now working towards putting behind what it thinks the “misadventure” of joining hands with the BJP to form the government earlier, and seeking to establish its own strength.

But the Principal Opposition Congress suffered a humiliating defeat as it drew a blank. The defeat is particularly demoralising for Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president R.V. Deshpande and working president D.K. Shivakumar, who took charge recently. Mr. Deshpande suffered an embarrassment as the party lost miserably in his home turf of Karwar.

The byelection results have also brought to the fore the crucial issue of dissatisfaction among the camp of senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah, who did not campaign for the party candidates.

The fact that his close aides openly campaigned for the BJP candidates had irritated Congress leaders. How the party deals with this influential and charismatic backward class leader, who is said to be the main reason for the Congress deciding against forging a pre-poll alliance with the Janata Dal (S), will determine the party’s prospects in the Lok Sabha elections.

The byelection results have also shown that Opposition parties have not been successful in completely translating their political attack against the failure of the development agenda of the Government into action by taking the fight to the grassroot level.

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