The Bharatiya Janata Party, smarting from a humiliating Assembly poll defeat in Karnataka, is trying to script a comeback by stitching a Lingayat-Vokkaliga alliance which in the past has proved electorally formidable. The recent alliance with Janata Dal (Secular), with its Vokkaliga vote base, and anointing as party chief B.Y. Vijayendra, son of Lingayat strongman B.S. Yediyurappa, fits this pattern.
This attempt at an alliance between the two land-owning communities, that have dominated the State’s politics for decades, is significant given that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, an Ahinda (Kannada acronym for Minorities, OBCs and Dalits combine) leader, is the Chief Minister of the State, and D.K. Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga, is vying for the top post.
