Chikmagalur sheds the Hindutva spell

Chickmagalur: The BJP may not be able to rely on the Hindutva factor to see it through in Chikamagalur-Udupi these coming parliamentary elections as it no longer seems to hold the old appeal among people here.

Until the 2012 bypoll when its candidate, Sunilkumar was defeated by Mr Jayaprakash Hegde of the Congress by 56,000 votes, the saffron party’s candidates had won from here in the 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009 elections.

This time the party, which has pinned its hopes on former minister, Shobha Karandlaje beating Mr Jayaprakash Hegde and retrieving the seat for it, could have a hard time owing to the apparent disappointment of the people with it for failing to keep its promise of building a temple dedicated to Dattareya at the disputed Datta Peeta site in Chikmagalur.

Recalling that the BJP had won the constituency mainly on a Hindutva plank from 2002 to 2009, a Congress leader says since then Hindu rationalists have broken away from the party and formed the Sri Rama Sene, diluting its hold on it. With police too booking cases against those disturbing law and order in the district, activists of the Bajrang Dal too have distanced themselves from it, according to him and it will prove to be an important issue in the coming elections.

Janata Dal (Secular) leader Bhoje Gowda, who unsuccessfully contested the 2012 bypoll, agrees that the BJP’s past successes came from the Datta Peeta issue, and it can no longer bank on it.

Mr Pramod Mutalik, founder of Sri Rama Sene, which is contesting from the constituency for the first time, also warns that BJP’s lack of consistency on the Datta Peeta issue could prove costly for it these elections.

Denying all such claims, however, Sringeri MLA and Chikmagalur district BJP president, Jeevaraj asserts the Hindutva wave still remains strong in Chikamagalur, and Kundapura in Udupi. ‘The development the constituency saw under the BJP will also work in its favour,” he said exuding confidence.