Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s decision to divest Revenue Minister R Ashoka of the responsibility to oversee the BJP’s fortunes in the Vokkaliga heartland district of Mandya in the coming Assembly polls reflects the ruling party’s troubles in consolidating its position in the dominant community in south Karnataka. Bommai appointed Ashoka, his good friend and a former Deputy CM, who is considered among the foremost BJP leaders from the Vokkaliga community barely 15 days ago. But he called it off on February 10 following protests by BJP workers in Mandya. “Ashoka go back” posters had appeared in the district after the CM announced the senior minister’s appointment. Mandya district is considered a bastion of the Janata Dal (Secular) led by H D Deve Gowda, with the Vokkaliga community, which dominates the region, swearing allegiance to the former prime minister who is seen as a patriarch of the community. Though the BJP has never won in the region and the JD(S) won all seven seats in the district in 2018, the ruling party is attempting to make a foray into the region. It was encouraged by the defeat of the JD(S) in the 2019 parliamentary elections when an Independent candidate, Sumalatha, defeated Deve Gowda’s grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy in Mandya. The BJP is seeking to make gains in southern Karnataka districts such as Mandya to be in a position to come to power on its own strength this time. A full majority of its own has been elusive for the BJP in Karnataka even though it cobbled together governments in 2008 and 2019 through political manoeuvring after elections. While the BJP is strong in the northern districts of the state, where the dominant Lingayat community has been firmly behind the party, the story has been quite different in the southern districts where the BJP’s agenda has not resonated with Vokkaligas. Because of this factor, a hung Assembly has been the safest bet to take in Karnataka in recent years. A few weeks ago, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Mandya and implored voters to back the BJP. Hitting out at the JD(S) and the Congress, he said, “We (the BJP) will push Karnataka further into the path of progress. Both parties are communal, casteist and filled with criminals. This time, we have to give a majority to the BJP in the region.” To start consolidating itself, Ashoka replaced another Vokkaliga leader and Excise Minister K Gopalaiah who is a former JD(S) leader from Bengaluru. Gopalaiah was replaced reportedly after poor turnouts at the BJP’s pre-election rallies in the district and due to his past ties with the JD(S). But Ashoka is also widely known in political circles to be subservient to JD(S) leaders such as Deve Gowda and his son, the former CM H D Kumaraswamy, when it comes to Vokkaliga politics. He is the MLA from Padmanabhanagar in south Bengaluru, where Deve Gowda also lives. Local BJP leaders in Mandya resented the move as they saw in it the possibility of the party making adjustments with the JD(S) in the region and leaving local leaders with no standing. Bommai on Friday said the move to divest Ashoka of his role as the Mandya in-charge minister was at the request of the minister himself. The CM said Ashoka already had many responsibilities as the revenue minister and a key leader of the BJP in Bengaluru. “Since he has to give time and do justice to all the work he has taken up, he requested me to free him from the Mandya district in-charge responsibility,” Bommai said. BJP sources said Vokkaliga leaders in the party such as Ashoka do not have the ability to take on Vokkaliga leaders in the JD(S). “They are involved in adjustment politics and are not beneficial to the growth of the support base of the party among Vokkaligas,” said a BJP leader. The revenue minister, however, is considered a formidable leader of the BJP in Bengaluru and is known to have a good hold over Bengaluru’s municipal politics. He is known to have a strong influence on the politics of the city council, including city development. While Bommai is the official minister in charge of the Bengaluru city region, Ashoka is considered to be the de facto Bengaluru minister. Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwathnarayan is also known to be keen to handle the Bengaluru city portfolio but has not been able to displace Ashoka who earlier enjoyed the confidence of former CM B S Yediyurappa and is now closely associated with Bommai. Ashoka has been involved in a constant tussle with the other Vokkaliga leaders in recent years on account of the BJP seeking to bring up other leaders from the community as a counter to the former deputy CM. Since the BJP came to power in 2019, the party leadership has tried to promote Ashwathnarayan as its Vokkaliga face. The higher education minister was one of three deputy CMs appointed to assist Yediyurappa between 2019 and 2021. He is also in charge of Ramanagar district, which is adjacent to Mandya, in the Vokkaliga belt. But Ashwathnarayan’s attempts to project himself as the foremost leader of the Vokkaliga community — through initiatives such as the unveiling of a 108-feet statue of Vokkaliga icon Kempegowda in Bengaluru — has not gone down well with Ashoka and other Vokkaliga leaders such as Cooperatives Minister S T Somashekhar and Health Minister K Sudhakar. The BJP in Karnataka at present lacks a clear leader from the community, which makes up nearly 15 per cent of the state population. The party lacks Vokkaliga leaders of the stature of Deve Gowda, S M Krishna (also a former CM), and H D Kumaraswamy. “The Vokkaliga leaders in the BJP practise adjustment politics. They never take on the Vokkaliga leaders from other parties. This is because of a quid-pro-quo arrangement with Vokkaliga rivals in other parties. This is one of the reasons that no clear Vokkaliga leadership has emerged in the BJP,” said a senior government functionary. But the waning of the fortunes of the JD(S) has given the BJP new hope of making political inroads into the Vokkaliga heartland.
