‘Minor’ poll players look to make an impact in Karnataka

Janata Dal (Secular) chief H.D. Deve Gowda with Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati at a poll rally in Mysuru last week.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is not a familiar face in Karnataka politics, but she was in the State recently campaigning for the Janata Dal (Secular). She is one of the many leaders of parties with minor presence in Karnataka who have already campaigned in the State or will be doing so in the days to come.

Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was in Bengaluru a few days ago. Rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav also visited the State to discuss modalities with its leaders. Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders and former UP Chief Ministers Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav are expected to campaign for their candidates. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and former Union Minister Sharad Pawar had stitched up an alliance with the JD(S), but it came apart after he appeared at a Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti event. The NCP will now go it alone.

While the BSP received 0.91% of the votes in 2013, the SP, which won a seat from Channapatna, garnered 0.34%. The NCP, which is contesting from at least 10 constituencies this year, polled 0.06% of the votes, while the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which had earlier won from KGF and Gandhinagar, got just 0.03% of the votes.

So what brings the leaders of these parties to the State? Some of them, according A. Narayana, a faculty member at Azim Premji University, could be using the Karnataka elections to remain in currency. Alternatively, a political alignment may bring them to the State. “Parties will also be looking to increase their vote share as part of a larger strategy. The party may not be spending much on election campaign as the candidates might shoulder the responsibility of expenditure. A large number of them may even forfeit their deposits.”

Mr. Narayana said while there are a large number of aspirants for tickets, getting a chance to contest from the national parties or the JD(S) is rare. “These aspirants may want to contest on some party symbol and prove a point to other parties. This may be a show of their personal strength that they may try to harvest in future elections or even local bodies polls,” he said.

Need for platform

According to a source in a regional party in north Karnataka, in some circumstances local leaders may emerge powerful figures but without a party platform. C.P. Yogeshwar, who contested in 2013 as an SP candidate from Channapatna, deserted the party in favour of Congress, but is now contesting on BJP ticket. In fact, the BSP had a representative in the State Assembly in 1994 when Syed Zulfikar Hashmi won from Bidar. “In both cases, the leaders were locally strong and joined the parties to get a platform [to contest],” a source said.

He said Karnataka is also the only State where such regional parties see a chance of increasing their vote share. In the other southern states such as Tamil Nadu, Telengana and Andhra Pradesh, the local parties are very strong. “Karnataka is also seen as a gateway to the south,” the source said.