The June 3 Legislative Council elections in Karnataka has two BJP rebel candidates from the coastal belt in the fray. Both claim that they are “filling a void” as the saffron party has “sidelined” Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts by not fielding locals in the South West Graduates’ and the Teachers’ constituencies this time. In fact, many in the party cadre are sulking as they feel that they have been “taken for granted” in the BJP strongholds.
Three-term Udupi MLA K. Raghupathi Bhat is contesting from the Graduates’ constituency and facing Dhananjaya Sarji, a doctor from Shivamogga, whom the BJP is backing. Another rebel, S.R. Harish Acharya, has filed his nomination papers from the Teachers’ constituency from where the Janata Dal (Secular), the BJP’s alliance partner, has fielded MLC K. Bhoje Gowda for the second time.
Bhat’s outburst
In his recent outburst, Mr. Bhat said the party has “disciplined workers” in the coastal belt who follow its diktat, but they have been taken for granted for that very reason. “It can no longer continue. We (the party workers) will take appropriate decisions whenever required,” Mr. Bhat said.
The former MLA pointed out that the party won 12 of the 13 Assembly seats in the twin districts in the 2018 elections. It won 11 seats in the 2023 elections by losing Puttur, again owing to the rebel factor in the BJP over the selection of the candidate. And yet, the coastal belt was “ignored”, he contended.
Mr. Acharya argued that being an educational hub, denying ticket, particularly in the Teachers’ constituency, is “a question of self-respect of teachers and voters.”
Silent support?
Interestingly, none of the BJP functionaries in the twin districts have uttered a word against the two rebels, indicating they do not disagree with their contention, even though they may not have openly stated it.
Endorsing the view of Mr. Bhat, a former president of the Dakshina Kannada unit of the party told The Hindu on condition of anonymity: “Mr. Bhat’s outburst is an expression of what many workers feel. They are of the view that the coastal belt has been let down.”
The BJP leader say that the belt has been “sidelined” notwithstanding the fact that it won the Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha seat (erstwhile Mangaluru) for eight consecutive terms and the Udupi-Chikkamagaluru seat for five terms since 1998, except for two breaks in 1999 and in the 2012 by-elections.
Stating that the morale of party workers is at stake, a former BJP legislator, who held different positions in the party, said there appears to be an attempt by some leaders to weaken the BJP leadership in the coastal belt through such efforts.
It was ‘inevitable’
Taking a different line of argument, another former legislator said that it was “inevitable” for the party to cede the Teachers’ constituency to the Janata Dal (Secular) for two reasons: it had won it in the last elections and the BJP is bound to respect the alliance. “The Sangh Parivar leaders had agreed for the alliance, but they did not interfere in the matter of picking the constituency to be ceded to the Janata Dal (Secular),” he said.
Obliquely pointing fingers at senior leader B.S. Yediyurappa, another senior leader alleged that “a Lingayat strongman” was behind the denial of ticket to Mr. Bhat, taking into consideration caste and financial factors. The Central leadership has not interfered in the selection of candidates for the Council polls, he claimed.
