The results of the just-concluded bypolls to two Assembly seats in Karnataka have exposed chinks in the BJP’s armour and show what challenges lie ahead for the principal opposition party, the Congress, and the Janata Dal (Secular) ahead of the Assembly elections in 2023. In particular, the new Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai, has faced a setback as the BJP lost the Hangal seat located in his home district of Haveri.
Bypolls to the Hangal and Sindgi Assembly constituencies were necessitated by the death of the MLAs in these areas. While Hangal had earlier been represented by veteran leader C.M. Udasi, a close aide of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, the Sindgi seat was held by the JD(S).
A mixed bag
The BJP, which is in the process of building a second line of leadership in Karnataka by replacing Mr. Yediyurappa with his own protégé, Mr. Bommai, as Chief Minister, had taken the decision not to give ticket to Udasi’s family members. This was seen in political circles as an attempt by the BJP to loosen the Yediyurappa camp’s hold over the party. In a balancing act, the party fielded a supporter of Mr. Yediyurappa from Hangal. The bypolls, though numerically insignificant, saw a high-decibel campaign with the Chief Minister himself leading from the front along with a battalion of his ministerial colleagues. Mr. Yediyurappa and his son B.Y. Vijayendra, who is keen to enter politics, also campaigned in both the constituencies.
But the results were a mixed bag: the BJP lost Hangal to Congress candidate Srinivas Mane while it managed to wrest Sindgi from the JD(S) with a sizeable margin. Though a defeat in one seat can in no way be a pointer to the mandate in the next Assembly elections, the ruling BJP and the Chief Minister appear to be concerned as the Hangal results have indicated that the party has to take delicate measures to ensure that the supporters of Mr. Yediyurappa, who has considerable influence over the dominant community of Lingayats, wholeheartedly back the party. Some leaders have also said that the Hangal results could point to the possible impact of the BJP’s turn to hardcore Hindutva politics on voters in a seat that has a sizeable number of minorities, Other Backward Classes and Dalits. On his part, Mr. Bommai has said that he and the party will introspect on the reasons behind the defeat and take corrective measures. He also admitted that the Congress candidate in Hangal had “earned the goodwill” of the people in the constituency by helping them during the pandemic. BJP National General Secretary and State in-charge Arun Singh is visiting Karnataka to analyse the reasons for the defeat and to incorporate the lessons from these bypolls into the party’s strategy for 2023.
Lessons for Opposition
These results have certainly boosted the morale of the Congress that has won Hangal. However, the party is not devoid of problems as its strategy of importing the candidate from the rival JD(S) camp in Sindgi backfired. Admitting this, the Leader of the Opposition, Siddaramaiah, has said that there was an absence of co-ordination in the party as the candidate was a recent entrant.
For the JD(S), whose candidates lost deposit in both the seats, the bypolls have shown that the absence of a firm political stand and strategies by its leaders are leading to constant erosion of its vote share. The party’s efforts to expand base beyond the Old Mysuru region of south Karnataka did not get a positive response from the people as its tally in north Karnataka has reduced further to five seats now.
The bypolls have come as a warning ahead of the 2023 elections and all the three political parties are expected to rework their strategies.
satishkumar.bs@thehindu.co.in
