TWO RECENT incidents of caste violence over successive days, leaving voters in the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency polarised, could hit Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's efforts to wrest back the seat, from where he lost to the BJP in 2019. The stakes are even higher as the Congress candidate this time from the Scheduled Caste-reserved constituency, won by Kharge in 2009 and 2014, is Radhakrishna Doddamani, who is both Kharge's brother-in-law (his wife's brother) and son-in-law (his daughter's husband). The contest marks the electoral debut of 60-year-old Doddamani, who used to manage Kharge's erstwhile Assembly constituency earlier. On April 30, a group of Dalit youths were accused of attacking the home of a member of the dominant Lingayat community over the desecration in January of a statue of B R Ambdekar in Kalaburagi district (earlier known as Gulbarga). The next day, came reports of the suicide of a backward caste youth accused in an SC/ST atrocity case. Before the two incidents, Doddamani seemed to be cruising, both on account of the goodwill enjoyed by Kharge in the area and the Congress state government's popular welfare schemes for women. An emotional appeal by Kharge to voters on April 24 had also hit home. Now, locals say, it won't be as easy for Doddamani on Tuesday, when Gulbarga votes along with the 13 other remaining seats of Karnataka. C B Patil, a local Congress leader, admits this. "Elections in Gulbarga are not decided by national factors or manifestos. They tend to swing on emotional issues. The two incidents (of April 30, May 1) will likely decide the outcome of the polls here.” On May 3, the Congress held a meeting to assuage Lingayat sentiments. Speaking on the sidelines of it, Bhimshankar Patil told The Indian Express: "The damage has been done. The Congress was ahead, women were in its favour. But the situation has changed overnight.” In the April 30 attack on the home of the Lingayat member accused of desecrating the Ambedkar statue, Patil said, “even women were beaten up”. "Nearly 60% of the people were in favour of the Congress, but now the situation is reversed. The community is angry.” Another reason for the Congress's confidence earlier was the dissatisfaction with sitting BJP MP Umesh Jadhav, a medical doctor belonging to the SC sub-community of the Lambanis, who is seen as having done little for the region. "Jadhav has not cut even a ribbon to inaugurate a project during his tenure. He has not been seen. He is just standing on (Narendra) Modi's shoulders. The Kharges have empowered Dalits," says Nagappa Yergol, a farm worker. Mayur B, an elderly shopkeeper in Kalaburagi city, also says Jadhav has “done nothing”, and has stuck by “his own community”. However, Mayur adds, “Some feel that the vote on May 7 must be for the person on the top (Modi).” Sohail Ahmed, a car driver in rural Gulbarga, voices their confusion: "The Lingayats are opposed to the Congress candidate. the Muslims are uniting for the Congress. the guarantees of the Congress are a factor for women.” However, Maruti, a Dalit driver from Gurmitkal, says: "We are for Kharge. There is no other option for us.” Caste equation If Dalits make up nearly 35% of the Gulbarga population, the Lingayats are not far behind at nearly 30%. While the Lingayats are a BJP vote bank, the Congress has banked here on Kharge's own Holeya Dalit community plus Muslims (20% of the population) and a section of the OBCs (together, making up 20%). Apart from the Lingayats, the BJP too is banking on a section of the OBCs apart from Lambanis within SCs, owing to the ticket to Jadhav. On the ground, the BJP's rise has shaken up settled fault lines, marking the slow shift of political power from the Dalits and Muslims, allied to the Congress and Kharge, towards the propertied caste of Lingayats and allied farm communities, who already enjoy economic and social power. C B Patil admits the “significant influence” of the Lingayats on account of being major property owners. “All other communities tend to work on their land. They have a lot of self-pride and don't like it to be pricked,” says the Congress leader. The rise of political power among the Dalits has been one such prick. "Many Lingayats feel threatened by the political dominance of the Kharges,” a Lingayat leader says, adding that the recent incidents have reinforced their apprehension. Even other non-Dalit groups in Kalaburagi feel the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has been “weaponised” under the watch of the Kharge family. A Kalaburagi Lingayat leader talks of “the large number of atrocity cases filed in the region”. Some see the defeat of Kharge in 2019 from Gulbarga by over one lakh votes by debutant Jadhav as a reflection as much of this change in the caste power dynamics as much as the Modi wave. Congress salvage bid Apart from the convention held for the Veerashaiva Lingayats on May 3 where the Congress's tallest Lingayat leaders implored the community not to turn their back on Kharge, Congress leaders have been telling voters that Kharge could become the PM in the event of a Congress alliance winning, and that Gulbarga would stand out if it doesn't vote for his family. Gulbarga South Congress MLA Allamprabhu Patil, who addressed the meeting, said it is the BJP that is anti-Lingayat. “The RSS does not trust us. They did not give reservations although it was a simple task. Kharge has contributed a lot to the region, from an ESI hospital to an airport.” Karnataka Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil, a close associate of Kharge who talked of the possibility of him becoming PM, said the Congress had vociferously condemned the attack on the Lingayat member's home. Kharge himself has been underlining all he has done for the region while seeking votes for Doddamani. In the emotional pitch he made on April 24, he said: “Look at the work done in Gulbarga and Karnataka. So that when I die, at least some of you will come for my final rites. Even if you do not vote for me, people will see the crowd at my funeral and say I did a lot of good work.” Kharge added that he doesn't carry rancour for the 2019 loss, “but it should not happen again”. “Or I will believe that I have no place here and in your hearts.” He said he was “born to do politics”, and “to defeat the ideology of the BJP and RSS”. However, there is also some amount of resentment against Kharge over “interference” by his son Priyank, who is the district in-charge state minister, reinforcing the claims of rivals that the family has a stranglehold over the region. Abrar Sait, a local Congress leader, admits that ticket to Doddamani could have been avoided. "Ideally, Mr Kharge should have contested himself or nominated someone from outside his family. Kharge senior is perceived as principled. But the decision to field Radhakrishna has sent a wrong signal,” Sait says. It was unfortunate, he adds, as people were ready to change the MP in Gulbarga.
