Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Politics / News/  How BJP won K.R.Pete constituency in the Karnataka bypolls
BackBack

How BJP won K.R.Pete constituency in the Karnataka bypolls

On Monday, BJP's Narayana Gowda bagged 66094 votes and won by a margin of 9731 in a constituency
  • The groundwork began over a month ago and included naming 10-15 people to booth working committees in the 258 booths
  • The ₹200 crore funds released by Yediyurappa to resolve the Pandavapura and Mandya sugar factory dues also worked to an extent. (Photo: PTI)Premium
    The 200 crore funds released by Yediyurappa to resolve the Pandavapura and Mandya sugar factory dues also worked to an extent. (Photo: PTI)

    Bengaluru: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) organised two back-to-back events in Kikkeri and Bookanakere village (with an hour's gap in between) on 26 November in the sugarcane growing district of Mandya to gauge public sentiment in Krishnarajapete (K.R.Pete), in Mandya district.

    Organisers in the BJP were apprehensive since this was a district that had denied the saffron brigade any electoral representation in its history.

    The party was aiming to wrest the Vokkaliga-dominated constituency from the clutches of the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) and its chief, former prime minister H.D.Deve Gowda, the master political tactician who was out to get Narayana Gowda who had defected to the BJP.

    The groundwork began over a month ago and included naming 10-15 people to booth working committees in the 258 booths and mobilising around 2000 youngsters initially from the villages.

    Both the events in November were a a grand success as the slogan “Mane Maga Yediyurappa" (roughly translates to son of the village) resonated with the people, especially in Bookanakere, the birthplace of the chief minister.

    “After the event, Yediyurappa sensed that we could win and asked us to start working seriously," said B.Y.Vijayendra, the younger son of the chief minister and general secretary of the BJP’s youth wing in the state.

    “Our first challenge was to get people to believe that BJP can win here," Vijayendra said.

    The team included BJP’s young leaders like Deputy CM, C.N.Ashwath Narayan and Preetham Gowda, the legislator from Hassan among other young leaders brave enough to fancy a victory. Drawing hope from the fact that the constituency had backed Sumalatha Amarnath (Sumalatha Ambareesh), an independent backed by the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, they stayed put.

    BJP workers from other neighbouring villages also came in to help and trained the locals on election campaigns.

    The constituency has around 96000 Vokkaligas, over 16000 Lingayats, 38000 voters belonging to scheduled caste and around 35000 kurubas. Knowing well that the JD(S) would mobilise the Vokkaligas and Siddaramaiah would go after the Kuruba vote, BJP had to find an overarching theme. The first was around milk.

    Boregowda, a local from Thendekere said that every morning BJP workers handed milk packets to homes with some money over it. Using the term “haalina runa" (debt of milk), he said that women voters were swayed by this since the diary business has been the breadwinner in most homes as income from agriculture has been plummeting in the calamity prone state.

    The BJP denies this and refer instead to the 2 per litre subsidy given to Karnataka’s milk producers by Yediyurappa in his first term as chief minister in 2008 which is said to have hit the right cord with the over 83000 women voters in the constituency.

    The 200 crore funds released by Yediyurappa to resolve the Pandavapura and Mandya sugar factory dues also worked to an extent.

    It released a manifesto for K.R.Pete, used social media extensively reminding people of the contributions to the district made by the CM toward developmental works even though it had never backed him. That Narayan Gowda could be minister and bring in more funds to fix irrigation related issues resonated with the region that is considered the epicentre of Karnataka’s farmer movement.

    “We told them that this was their last opportunity to back the CM considering his age factor," he said. Locals confirm that the BJP cadre went to each village, much to the surprise of the people where no leader had made any such attempt before. “They called me the “mommaga" or grandson of the village," said a beaming Vijayendra, whose entry into mainstream politics now appears legitimised.

    The BJP team was given firm instructions to focus on speaking about development and schemes and not to bad mouth the JD(S) or its first family.

    Though the anger against Narayan Gowda was visible, that Kumaraswamy had allied with arch rival, Congress after the 2018 elections, para-dropped his son Nikhil in the parliamentary polls and lead a relatively unimpactful 14 months in government went against the JD(S). Over 5000 people, who gathered on 2 December for a huge rally in K.R.Pete town had to leave disappointed after Kumaraswamy failed to turn up.

    The BJP sensed a victory.

    On Monday, BJP's Narayana Gowda bagged 66094 votes and won by a margin of 9731 in a constituency that had never crossed 10000 votes in an assembly election.

    Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

    Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
    More Less
    Published: 11 Dec 2019, 02:58 PM IST
    Next Story footLogo
    Recommended For You
    Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App