Apart from the implementation of the Congress’s five poll guarantees, one of the political highlights of the nearly 30 months that the Congress has been in power in Karnataka was a 125-km protest march that the BJP organised in August seeking the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over alleged irregularities in Muda (Mysore Urban Development Authority) land allotments to his wife. The week-long march, from August 3 to August 10, forced the CM and his supporters to shelve their plans for a massive show of strength with a mega rally around August 12 to celebrate his 77th birthday. In the language of politics, big shows of public support are considered the real barometer of a leader’s popularity, and according to Congress insiders, it was a big show of support that Siddaramaiah's close associates organised in Davangere in August 2022 to celebrate his 75th birthday, and attended by Rahul Gandhi, that propelled Siddaramaiah into the CM's seat last year. With the issue of the alleged Muda scam and other corruption allegations against Siddaramaiah now receding into the background on account of court cases, and the Congress sweeping three seats in the Assembly bypolls held on November 13, the grand old party is now set to hold a fresh show of strength in Hassan in south Karnataka on December 5. The show of strength was initially viewed as another attempt by Siddaramaiah’s supporters to project his continuing popularity and to keep him as CM for a full five-year tenure despite recent temporary setbacks. An anonymous letter An anonymous letter written to the Congress leadership on November 29 claimed that the Swabhimana Samavesha (Self-esteem Convention) was intended to showcase the CM’s popularity and not that of the Congress. The Congress then in a deft move took ownership of the rally — for communities such as the backward classes, Dalits, minorities and supporters from dominant castes that have traditionally stood with it — to project it as a big party show. The rally will be held four days before the start of a Winter Session of the state legislature where the BJP, despite its internal disunity, is expected to go all guns blazing to give the government a hard time on issues such as the alleged Muda scam, classification of land as Waqf properties, and maternal deaths at government hospitals. “A self-esteem conference has been organised in Hassan on December 5 under the auspices of the Congress and the Backward Classes Alliance. The KPCC president (D K Shivakumar) and state in-charge general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala have also been invited for the convention," Siddaramaiah said last week after the anonymous letter began doing the rounds. Claims of 'personal glorification' The letter addressed to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, and circulated in the media, said Siddaramaiah should not be allowed to hold the Swabhimana Samavesha as an event for “personal glorification”. When the letter appeared in the public domain, Siddaramaiah denied knowledge of it as did D K Shivakumar, the deputy CM who aspires to hold the top job. “There is no information about an anonymous letter being written to the High Command regarding the convention,” Siddaramaiah said while pointing out that Kharge also did not mention it during meetings in Delhi on November 29. “This convention is being held under the leadership of KPCC. Friends and self-respecting unions that are supporting the party have also decided to stand in support of the work being done by the chief minister and the government, and I congratulate them for joining hands with us. We are holding this convention for the welfare of people,” Shivakumar said Monday. The deputy CM also said similar conventions would be held across the state in the coming days to highlight the popularity of the government. “Our ministers and legislators are preparing for this convention. We have to give a message to the people through this convention. In politics, the relationship between the party and the people is very important. The Opposition parties do politics on emotions. We do politics for the lives of people,” he said. Message is the medium Shivakumar said the message of the convention would be that the Congress “has kept the faith of the people” even as “BJP and JD(S) leaders tried to destabilise this government”. The rally is seen as a sign of the Congress gaining confidence on the back of its recent bypolls wins, something that may lead to the long-delayed local polls for town and zilla panchayats and city councils being held. Bengaluru, for instance, has not had a city council since September 2020. “The town panchayat and zilla panchayat elections will be held soon. We have discussed this in the Cabinet meeting. We are preparing for a February election,” Shivakumar said. Siddaramaiah, according to insiders, told the Congress high command that organising mass rallies and conventions would bolster the party’s efforts to contest the local polls. Siddaramaiah is widely seen as nearing the end of his political career, with his current term possibly his last as CM. The Congress does not have a similar pan-Karnataka leader from the backward classes and is now looking at using his popularity to cement its hold on its traditional vote base of minorities, backward classes and Dalits (AHINDA) even as the BJP and the JD(S), which enjoy the support of the dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities, attempt to break the Congress hold over the backward classes and Dalits.
