Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The former BJP MLA of Hassan City Assembly seat has issued what is being seen as a veiled threat directed at the Muslim community, following his defeat in the Karnataka Assembly elections.
In a video that has now gone viral, Preetham Gowda does not mention Muslims by name, but names “one community” and says he will “show them” his “power”.
The sitting BJP MLA lost from Hassan City Assembly seat to Swaroop Prakash of the JD(S) by 7,854 votes, leaving the BJP’s account in Hassan district empty.
A source in the BJP said their booth-level polling calculations showed that Muslim votes had largely gone to Swaroop Prakash. The JD(S) has a strong base in Hassan, and also among the Muslims.
In the video, Preetham Gowda can be heard saying: “…but people from that one community, who have shown us… In the forthcoming days, we’ll show what we are made of. Truth will shine over Hassan the way the sun and moon do. I honestly tried to take all communities along, with love and faith. Yet, they hated me. In the forthcoming days, let their God take care of them. I’ll show what power Preetham Gowda has.”
The Hassan City Assembly segment, considered a JD(S) stronghold, was first won by the party’s K H Hanumegowda in 1999. Thereafter, H S Prakash of the JD(S) — who had earlier won the seat on a Janata Party ticket in 1994 — held it for three consecutive terms.
Then, in 2018, Preetham Gowda snatched the seat for the BJP, beating incumbent H S Prakash by 13,006 votes.
This year, the Hassan City seat saw a lot of drama, with JD(S) leader H D Revanna’s wife Bhavani Revanna an early frontrunner for the ticket, before her brother-in-law and senior JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy declared it would go to a party worker, in the face of criticism that his party indulges in “dynastic politics”. The honour went to Swaroop Prakash, the son of four-time Hassan City MLA H S Prakash.
Regaining Hassan City was one of the biggest targets for the JD(S) this election. In an intense campaign, they even had JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, now 89, campaigning for Swaroop Prakash.
Polling data indicates that Muslim votes that have traditionally gone to the Congress consolidated behind the JD(S) this time. In 2018, the Congress’s H K Mahesh had secured 38,101 votes (24.67%). This time, the Congress candidate secured only 4,305 votes (2.52%).
Part of the Muslim vote consolidation this time can be attributed to a video clip that went viral In December last year, in which Preetham Gowda could be seen telling voters in a Muslim-majority area of the city that there wouldn’t be any development if locals didn’t vote for him. The local BJP unit later claimed Gowda had made the comment in a lighter note, as he maintained good relations with all.
