KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre's hat-trick victory in the 2018 Assembly election from Bhalki constituency was a major turning point for him. Despite being a minister then, Mr Khandre, who has been the general secretary of the Akhila Bharat Veerashaiva Mahasabha, strongly opposed the decision of the Siddaramaiah government to back the movement for a separate Lingayat religion with a view to divide the Veerashaiva-Lingayat voters, who were largely believed to be supporting BJP State President B S Yeddyurappa. With a view to placate the Veerashaiva-Lingayats, Mr Khandre was rewarded with the post of Working President of KPCC despite the party paying a heavy price in the 2018 Assembly election for supporting the independent religion movement. His image soared as he was the first leader from the district to rise to the post of KPCC working president; his father and veteran leader Bheemanna Khandre, who dominated Bidar district politics for nearly half a decade, could rise only to the post of KPCC general secretary.
Naturally he was the frontrunner for the Bidar Lok Sabha seat. Considering that of the total eight Assembly segments under Bidar LS seat, five were won by Congress MLAs and one by the JD(S) in 2018, and the image the Khandre family enjoyed in the district besides the dominance of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community that Mr Khandre belongs to, the party thought that he would be able to take on sitting BJP MP Bhagwanth Khuba. But two major factors- the Modi wave and the fact that the sudden rise of Mr Khandre in politics could not be digested by his own party-leaders played spoilsport and he lost the LS poll. Here are excerpts of an interview by K.N. Reddy with him.
Your comments on the verdict in the Bidar Lok Sabha seat?
It's totally unexpected but it happened across the state and nation.
Where did things actually go wrong in your case?
The first was the nationalism issue...A feeling developed among a large chunk of voters especially youth and also the upper castes in the wake of the Balakot attack that only Mr Modi can safeguard the interests of the nation.
There was a total polarisation of voters - on one side minorities and Dalits and on the other side, other communities including the backward classes.
In your case, the picture was pretty rosy Of the eight Assembly segments, Congress had won in five and your alliance partner JD(S) in one segment. You had three ministers, two MLCs and the majority of ZPs and TPs are under your party's control. With the network you have all over the district it appeared you would win hands down.
I quite agree with you... from outside, factors seemed to favour us. Eventually nearly 1.30 lakh youth who were added to the list in this election voted for Modi. Also, after my candidature was finalised there was unhappiness among some people as they wanted me to remain in state politics. I got this feeling during the polls after I analysed the contents of social media in the district.
That means your supporters did not want you to go to the Lok Sabha - they wanted you to remain in Assembly.
Yes...they wanted me to remain in the district and focus on my constituency.
How much has the movement for separate Lingayat religion status affected your prospects? From the result it appears like the dominant Lingayat community has not supported you to the extent you would have expected.
The Lingayats did not vote for me to the extent expected. But it was not due to the movement that was launched for separate religion. If the separate Lingayat religion factor had worked, they would not have voted for Modi in this election
as well. For totally different reasons, the Lingayats did not vote for me.
Do you think backstabbing by your own party leaders played a role in your defeat?
I don't want to comment on this issue. May be fiction has won against reality...only imaginary issues have won.
It is being speculated that some of your party leaders who could not digest your political growth in the district worked against you?
I agree with you that my sudden rise was not digestable to some. The debate among my supporters as well as in the media that I would be the state level leader in the coming days made our own party leaders jealous.
Many of your own party leaders contend that your over-confidence should be largely blamed for your defeat..
Of course I agree with you....as I was highly confident of my victory we did not go for an aggressive campaign during the polls . Moreover the shortage of time was also a major reason. as there was a delay in finalizing my candidature for Bidar. We could not reach voters in every nook and corner of the constituency.
To what extent has the alliance between the coalition partners Congress and JD(S) harmed your electoral prospects?
I don't want to comment on the issue.
