Bengaluru: The BJP leaders of Chamarajanagar and Mysuru are a happy lot for two reasons. Firstly, they have been able to make inroads into the strong fortresses of the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular).
Secondly, three saffron party candidates have romped home in the recent taluk and zilla panchayat polls in Varuna, the constituency of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah,much to the embarrassment of local Congress leaders.
The results of the panchayat polls point to a polarisation of votes especially in the backward Chamarajanagar district, where Lingayat votes decide the fate of candidates. For the first time, even the Nayak community reportedly supported the BJP which helped the party win good number of seats in Gundlupet, Chamarajanagar, Nanjangud, HD Kote and Mysuru rural district.
The performance of BJP has been improving from one election to the next, so has its penetration into rural pockets. The party, which was not finding place to put up a banner in villages a few years ago, has now graduated to the point of giving a stiff fight to Congress and JD(S).
Mysuru rural district BJP president, Hemanthkumar Gowda told Deccan Chronicle that people of the region supported Mr Siddaramaiah who played the Ahinda card to woo voters of backward classes, Scheduled Castes/ Tribes and minorities.
But Mr Siddaramaiah focussed his development on the Kuruba community to which he belongs, neglecting others. Naturally this has hurt other communities who have grouped to support the BJP. So, Lingayats, Nayaks and other forward communities supported the saffron party in many taluks.
Mr Gowda sought to know the contributions of Mr Siddaramaiah to his home district claiming that everything was being managed by Mr Rakesh Siddaramaiah, his son. Even the son of Public Works Minister Dr H.C. Mahadevappa has been running a ‘parallel government’ on behalf of his father, he alleged. There will be exodus of leaders from Congress and Janata Dal Secular to BJP in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar district in the coming months, he asserted.
A senior Congress leaders admitted that the Bharatiya Janata Party was slowly growing in rural areas of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts due to the faulty policies of the state government.
