Will BJP roar again in ‘land of tigers’? Rebels, anti-incumbency dog it

“Internal survey reports have been disappointing. The roadshow was held to retain the Lingayat base, a decider in the seat,” said a local BJP leader.

Gundlupet was synonymous with five-time legislator H S Mahadeva Prasad, who won the seat for the Janata Dal, and subsequently the JD(U) and JD(S), from 1994 onwards. After Siddaramaiah left the JD(S) in 2005, Prasad followed him to the Congress. As a result, the JD(S) collapsed in Gundlupet and the BJP’s rise began. After Prasad died in 2017, his wife Mohan Kumar won the bypoll, but the following year the BJP’s Niranjan Kumar won the constituency for the party for the first time.

While the BJP has fielded Niranjan Kumar again, the Congress has given the ticket to Prasad’s son Ganesh, and the JD(S) has fielded the incumbent MLA’s ex-associate Kadabur Manjunath. Another of Kumar’s former aides, M P Sunil, is contesting as an Independent.

Of the seat’s 2.09 lakh voters, 40% are Lingayats, followed by 25% SC voters, and 10% Kurubas who are OBCs. All the three major candidates are Lingayats.

JD(S) worker Mahadev Prasad said: “I too voted for the BJP last time, but we were let down. Niranjan Kumar who fought against crushers in forests started the same business and became inaccessible.” Though the JD(S) does not have a winning chance, Mahadev Prasad feels Manjunath will cut into BJP votes.

Congress worker Girish H S says their candidate had been working in the constituency for the last three-and-a-half years and enjoys public goodwill.

BJP district president R Sundar dismisses reports of anti-incumbency, while falling back on “drinking water schemes of the Centre and state”.

Healthcare is an issue that continues to figure among voters’ concerns. At the height of the Covid-19, the death of 36 patients admitted to Chamarajanagar district hospital was attributed to oxygen shortage.

Among those who lost their kin was Shivanna, from Nenekatte in Gundlupet. Shivanna blames the death of his father on “state negligence” and is now working for the Congress.

Gundlupet also has a sizeable tribal population. But most work in Kerala now. At Kalavani haadi near Gundlupet town, 25-year-old  Kongalli’s family is the only one left. “We do not have electricity, proper drinking water, and no consistent earnings,” he says.