"I want to contest elections, but my fear is I may not be allowed to canvass for votes among all sections of society. I fear I will be barred from entering homes of people of other castes," says B C Nagaraj, a Shivamogga-based activist who belongs to the most backward Madiga community of Scheduled Castes. The BJP government has made several overtures to secure the support of groups such as the Madigas in Karnataka – known as the 'SC (Left)' in the state – through initiatives such as the provision of a fixed block of 6% reservation for them in jobs and education (out of the new 17% SC quota). However, like Nagaraj says, caste discrimination is still the elephant in the room. A borewell contractor who has also produced a Kannda film, Nagaraj points out that despite all the BJP's gestures, half of its candidates for the 36 SC-reserved seats belong to groups falling in the 'touchable' category, who are much higher in the caste hierarchy. The Madiga community, the largest among the SC (Left) groups, treated as 'untouchable', got 10 seats. “This is a contradiction,” Nagaraj says. In Shivamogga Rural seat reserved for Dalits, only the Congress has fielded an SC (Left) candidate, a Madiga. The BJP and JD(S) candidates belong to the Banjara or Lambani community, who fall in the 'touchable' category. Of the seat's total 2 lakh voters, nearly 75,000 are Dalit. Lingayats make up 65,000 of the population, Lambanis 25,000 and Madigas nearly 36,000. As part of a recent quota rejig, the BJP increased the overall quota for SCs in government jobs and education to 17% from 15%, and then set aside 6% of this for 50-odd SC (Left) groups; 5.5% for SC (Right); and 4.5% for 'touchable groups' – in line with their estimated population in Karnataka. The BJP has been wooing SC (Left) groups assiduously, as they move away from the Congress. In 2018, they voted in large numbers against the Congress after the Siddaramaiah government failed to implement recommendations for internal reservations within the SC quota, due to pressure from other Dalit groups dominant in the party. Even a major chunk of the Congress's candidates for the SC-reserved seats in Karnataka (16 of 36) belong to SC (Right) groups, comprising castes like Holeyas to which AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and other dominant Dalit leaders of the party, like former deputy CM G Parameshwara, belong. In the remaining 20 seats, the Congress has fielded 10 candidates each from touchable and SC (Left) groups. The SC (Right) groups command clout due to their financial strength and the many educational institutions and businesses they run in the state, says Nagaraj. Hence, he adds, without the backing of a party like the BJP, it's very difficult for candidates belonging to groups like the Madigas to win. "We are still considered untouchable, especially in rural areas. We had a gram panchayat president in Shivamogga village, but he too was not allowed access to the local temple.” While many Madigas like Nagaraj question the BJP's intent, given that it has stuck to the caste playbook in providing tickets, Shivamogga Madiga activist and an RSS worker, Rajana B, says: "The BJP has been in power in Karnataka only for 10 years, the Congress was in power all these years, but did not empower us. The Congress allowed other Dalit communities to corner all the benefits.” According to Rajana, the BJP has identified leaders from the Madiga community across the state, including him. "It was Yediyurappa (former CM) and Eshwarappa who identified me as a Madiga leader with potential from the slum where I live in," he says, going on to list SC (Left) leaders like Govind Karjol (made deputy CM by the party) and A Narayanaswamy (selected as Union Minister of State for Social Welfare). "The BJP's contribution helped us renovate the temple for Goddess Marikamba (revered by the Madigas) in our locality," Rajana adds. He also believes that the BJP is right in opposing reservations for Dalits who convert to other religions like Christianity. A mason, Rajana is a strong supporter of BJP leader K S Eshwarappa, an OBC Kuruba leader, who could not get a ticket from Shivamogga City despite making it known that he wanted one. According to Rajana, more than changes in the reservation composition, it is local issues like the sidelining of his political guru, Eshwarappa, and “the task of providing ownership documents to 65 households living in slum board houses in the city”, that occupy his mind. "If Eshwarappa was contesting, we would have been very reassured. He has done a lot of work and is popular among the karyakartas,” Rajana says, adding that Eshwarappa's son K E Kanthesh too is very active. But the BJP denied a ticket to Kanthesh as well (ignoring Eshwarappa's demand). The decision is seen as part of a BJP strategy to make way for fresh leaders in the state unit. Earlier, this saw Lingayat strongman from Shivamogga district B S Yediyurappa dropping out of the electoral race. However, for both Eshwarappa and Yediyurappa, Shivamogga City is a prestige fight as BJP candidate S N Channabasappa, a long-time party worker and a Lingayat leader, is an associate of theirs. The seat is dominated by Lingayats and Brahmins. In a video that went viral, an emotional Eshwarappa was shown receiving a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the latter thanked him for his “gracious exit”, after other leaders such as Jagadish Shettar had quit when denied a ticket. In Shivamogga City, the BJP is also expecting gains from communal polarisation in the wake of several flare-ups under the current BJP government, including the murder of Bajrang Dal worker Harsha. The JD(S) candidate from the seat is Ayanur Manjunath, a Lingayat, who left the BJP after he was not chosen to replace Eshwarappa. The Congress has fielded a young candidate, H C Yogesh, who is also a Lingayat. In Shivamogga Rural, the BJP has fielded sitting MLA K B Ashok Naik, a Banjara The Congress candidate in Shivamogga Rural, the only Madiga fielded by top parties from the seat, is Srinivas Kariyanna, the son of former Congress MLA Kariyanna. The JD(S) has fielded Sharda Purva Naik, a member of the Banjara community, credited with doing a lot of work in her previous tenure. The owner of a hotel in Shivamogga city, who lives in the rural region and is a Maratha, says: "In Shivamogga City, the BJP is ahead. This is what I sense from talking to customers. In the Shivamogga Rural segment, JD(S) candidate Sharada Purva Naik is ahead.” Nagaraj says the Madigas are confused about the BJP's moves and are waiting to see if it is mere tokenism. One way the BJP could disprove this notion is with an amendment to the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, to safeguard the state government's increase in SC quota, which has breached the 50% ceiling, the activist says.
