While candidates have hit the campaign trail for the Lok Sabha elections, several local leaders and grassroots-level workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (Secular), parties that have struck an alliance ahead of polls, are confused and anxious about the prospect of losing their identity and political constituency.
Reversal of situation
For the JD(S) workers, especially in the Vokkaliga-dominated districts, the situation has reversed from what it was last time around. If they were anxious in 2019 since the party had entered into an understanding with Congress, with which the JD(S) had formed the government after a fractured mandate in 2018, it is now in alliance with the BJP.
In 2018 polls, Congress and JD(S) had bitterly fought the Assembly election before coming together to form the government led by H.D. Kumaraswamy that lasted 14 months. Similarly, during the 2023 elections, the JD(S) and BJP fought an intense battle in many constituencies, and the inroads made by the saffron party into JD(S) strongholds in Old Mysore region cost the JD(S) dear in over a dozen Assembly constituencies.
In this election JD(S) is fighting in Mandya, Hassan and Kolar. While JD(S) sees itself as an important player in about eight Lok Sabha constituencies in Old Mysore region, it has a good presence in pockets of Kalyana Karnataka and Central Karnataka.
Eye on local bodies
The local leaders are particularly worried about how things will pan out in the to-be-held local body polls. Zilla panchayat and taluk panchayat elections are to be held and in several places urban local bodies elections are also expected.
“In places where the BJP is not strong, the problem may not arise. However, leaders planning to contest local body elections and already working on ground are not sure about their political future where both parties are on equal footing or close in the race,” a JD(S) functionary in Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency feared. In fact, he said JD(S) functionaries and former local body members are trying to avoid joint campaigning, since local BJP leaders who barely have a presence seem to be suddenly getting more importance.
Pockets of insecurity
This insecurity among JD(S) and BJP leaders are high in Bengaluru Rural, Tumakuru, Hassan, Mysuru, Tumakuru and Mandya. A BJP leader in Hassan said that shifting to another party is also not easy for a disgruntled leader in the present political scenario. “As far as JD(S) is concerned, shifting may be easy only where Congress is weak or the local Congress leaders are not strong. For BJP leaders with an ideological bent of mind, moving to Congress is difficult though local elections are fought on political clout and local issues,” he said. According to him, this issue came up during the coordination committee meeting between leaders of both parties on Friday, but none of the senior leaders were able to give them satisfactory answers. “It is also difficult to bring about cohesion in such short span of time after sparring recently. The future of the alliance is also not being discussed, frustrating the workers.”
In Tumakuru, JD(S) leaders had serious misgivings about joint campaigning for BJP candidate V. Somanna. “Some leaders who have fought BJP tooth and nail are hesitant to work for the BJP. They fear that a joint campaign could become a platform for BJP leaders to identify and poach good leaders at the grassroots in future,” a political observer from Turuvekere said.
Many in JD(S) believe that this led to party leaders moving to Congress. Former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has often acknowledged this as a factor for the weakening of JD(S) in Ramanagara. He believes the Congress “dug burrows in the JD(S) organisation set up” using alliance as entry into their bastion. Now with an alliance with the BJP, there is fear of repeat of the old situation.
