Former Karnataka CM and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy’s statement that he has information about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) planning to make Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, a Brahmin, the next chief minister of Karnataka has stirred the proverbial hornets' nest in political circles and is being viewed as an effort to polarise voters on caste lines. Although Karnataka has had two Brahmin CMs – Ramakrishna Hegde (1983-1988) of the Janata Party and R Gundu Rao (1980-1983) of the Congress – the strategy of projecting a Brahmin CM in the run-up to polls is now seen as detrimental to the interests of the parties since they are heavily reliant on the support of caste groups such as the Lingayats (BJP), the Vokkaligas (JDS), and the Other Backward Classes, or OBCs, (Congress). Kumaraswamy made the comment in an apparent reaction to a statement by Joshi, the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, that the JD(S) places the interest of the family of former PM H D Deve Gowda ahead of all else in its political decisions. Kumaraswamy, Deve Gowda's son, said in response, “There is a ploy by the RSS to make Joshi the CM once the elections are over. The reason for that is that he does not represent the south Indian Brahmin traditions. There are two-three (different) kinds of Brahmins. He (Joshi) hails from the Peshwa community, which destroyed the idol at Sringeri mutt, (and) belongs to the group that killed Mahatma Gandhi. He is not a Brahmin of the old Karnataka region. The RSS has already decided to make him the next CM. That is why he has started attacking us.” Joshi is known to have been a frontrunner to replace former Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa, a member of the dominant Lingayat caste, in July 2021 when the veteran leader was forced to step down as CM. The party, at the time, cited his age and the health factor. Apart from Joshi, the party’s general secretary for organisation B L Santhosh, who is also Brahmin, was also considered to be in the race to be the CM in 2021. But, in the end, the BJP played it safe and stuck with the Lingayat community that makes up 17 per cent of the state’s population –– compared to two per cent for Brahmins — and chose Basavaraj Bommai. The choice of a Brahmin CM in Karnataka — where the Lingayats, Vokkaligas and OBCs are dominant — is considered to be a self-goal unless the candidate has the backing of a strong caste group (Lingayats and the BJP helped Hegde in 1983) or a national party with a big majority and a strong central leader (Congress won 149 seats in 1978 and Gundu Rao replaced Devaraj Urs after Urs split from Indira Congress). For the coming Assembly polls, the BJP has not projected a CM candidate and said the elections would be fought under the leadership of Bommai and Yediyurappa. Kumaraswamy’s statement on the BJP and the RSS planning to pick Joshi as the next CM is being viewed as an effort to split Lingayat support for the BJP and bring Vokkaliga support — which the JD(S) enjoys — closer to his party for a three-way fight against the BJP and the Congress in the polls. “In PM Modi's Cabinet, Pralhad Joshi is representing Karnataka as the parliamentary affairs minister. There is an attempt to misguide people about the BJP. There is an attempt to create confusion among the people by claiming that Pralhad Joshi will be made CM. They are trying to sow seeds of doubt in the minds of voters,” said B Sreeramulu, a BJP minister from the Scheduled Tribe Valmiki Nayaka community who enjoys a good relationship with Joshi. “Our chief minister is Basavaraj Bommai and the elections will be fought under his leadership. The future CM will also be decided under his leadership,” he said. BJP general secretary C T Ravi claimed that Kumaraswamy's statement revealed the frustrations of the JDS leader. “Kumaraswamy is feeling increasingly frustrated on account of the support that the BJP enjoys in the state. He is upset that the BJP will win more seats this time and that is why he is talking in this manner,” said Ravi, a member of the Vokkaliga community and a BJP MLA. “In the BJP, even an ordinary worker can become the PM or the CM. What is the political background of PM Modi? He was from the family of an ordinary tea maker. What is the political background of former CM Yediyurappa? Nobody in his family was an MP or MLA. He is the son of an ordinary farmer. The party made him the CM and an ordinary tea seller became the PM. The BJP gives an opportunity to every worker,” Ravi said. He went on to say, “In the JD(S) it is not like that. It is their own family members who have to have all the power. In Hassan, Bhavani Revanna (Kumarawamy's sister-in-law) has to be the candidate, the MLC ticket has to be given to Suraj Revanna (nephew), the MP ticket has to go to Prajwal Revanna (nephew), and if Ramanagara has to be forfeited then it is only as per the wishes of Anita Kumaraswamy (the wife of Kumaraswamy), and if she decides to give up her seat then it is only to Nikhil Kumaraswamy (son). They call it sacrifices.” Congress leaders, meanwhile, tried to steer clear of Kumaraswamy's statement. ”The statement by Kumaraswamy is not correct. However, they (BJP) have to come to power in the first place to decide on a CM. Have they ever won a clear majority in Karnataka? They won 110 seats in 2008 (three short of a majority) and 104 seats (nine short of a majority) in 2018,” said former Congress CM Siddaramaiah, who is from the OBC Kuruba community. “It does not show the former CM in a good light. We do not know why he has said this and it should be explained by Kumaraswamy himself,” said former Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao, who is the son of the former CM R Gundu Rao. A religious seer of the Brahmin community, Vishwaprasanna Theertha Swami of the Pejavar Mutt in Udupi has said that comments against Brahmins in the political discourse were not new. “It is not new, it has been happening always. It increases during the election period. The Brahmins are a minority and do not have electoral strength,” he told reporters.
