Can Yediyurappa help BJP woo Lingayats back?

As the political atmosphere heats up in north Karnataka, which encompasses 14 constituencies, ahead of polling on May 7, all eyes are on the Lingayat community, a dominant caste in the region. The Lingayats, constituting the state’s largest single community, make up nearly 17% of the 5.3 crore electorate, while the Vokkaligas, another politically significant group, account for approximately 12%.The Lingayat community had noticed a shift away from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2023 assembly election, raising questions about whether they would reaffirm their allegiance to the party in the Lok Sabha polls. Lingayat politics, deeply entrenched in sociocultural dynamics, plays an important role in shaping the electoral fortunes of the BJP and the Congress. In the 2019 general election, the BJP swept the region by winning all 14 seats. medium109780468In last year’s assembly election, 37 of the Congress’ 46 Lingayat candidates won, a significant increase from the 13 seats won in 2018. In contrast, only 15 Lingayats from the BJP emerged victorious, despite the party fielding 69 candidates from the community. This seismic change was a major contributing factor to the Congress’ landslide victory.Lingayats dominate about 90 of the 224 assembly segments in the state, and while there were many reasons why the community switched sides from the BJP to the Congress, the sidelining of Lingayat strongman BS Yediyurappa was the prime factor.“There was a perception that Lingayats were averse to Congress, but that was proven wrong in the assembly polls last year. Now there is speculation that Lingayats will move back to BJP. We will again prove this wrong,” insisted Karnataka minister MB Patil. His claim was endorsed by Eshwar Khandre, also a minister and prominent Lingayat figure in the Congress.The stakes are highThe outcome of the 14 seats in north Karnataka holds special significance not only for the overall tally of the BJP but also for the future of Yediyurappa and his son BY Vijayendra.Yediyurappa had to step down as the chief minister in July 2021, during his fourth term, following a series of corruption allegations. His resignation led to a backlash from Lingayats, and the subsequent appointment of Basavaraj Bommai, a supporter of Yediyurappa, only fuelled the fire. Protesters, including 500 influential Lingayat sadhus, voiced their discontent, warning of “irreparable” damage.Allegations of corruption extended to claims of malpractices within government contracts, exacerbated tensions. Additionally, the denial of tickets to other prominent Lingayats, such as Jagdish Shettar and Laxman Savadi, further strained relations between the BJP and the community that has produced nine chief ministers in the state. Efforts to mend ties by Bommai ahead of the assembly polls, including last-minute enhancement of job and education reservations, proved insufficient.Watch: Yediyurappa confident of a clean sweep medium nocaptionhttp://youtu.be/fDfoLguTfiM?si=UapZ6w4lCaSAGey3In an attempt at damage control ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP reinstated Yediyurappa as a member of the BJP parliamentary board, the party’s highest decision-making body, and appointed his son Vijayendra as state BJP chief. These manoeuvres were also aimed at fostering an electoral alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), which relies on Vokkaliga support.For the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has fielded nine Lingayats and three Vokkaligas on the 25 seats it is contesting, while the Congress has nominated six Vokkaligas and five Lingayats. The JD(S) has allocated tickets to two Vokkaligas on its three seats, with the third seat given to another community.Shettar, who had earlier left the party, has now made a return, indicating a ghar wapsi (homecoming), while Savadi, though possessing limited influence within the community, is showing inclinations of rejoining the BJP despite his current involvement with the grand old party.“The Lingayat support base has already returned to BJP, and we are anticipating a clean sweep once again in north Karnataka,” said Aravind Bellad, a prominent Panchamasali Lingayat leader and deputy Opposition leader in the assembly.Hurdles in the pathHowever, party insiders and Congress members insist that it would be an oversimplification. The BJP is grappling with internal dissent, with several senior functionaries, including prominent Lingayat figures like Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, expressing discontent over the decision to appoint a first-time MLA as party president.Additionally, KS Eshwarappa, a senior party functionary who played a key role in building the BJP in Karnataka over four decades alongside Yediyurappa, is also unhappy with the choice of Vijayendra. Eshwarappa is now contesting against Yediyurappa’s son, BY Raghavendra, from Shimoga.“These developments clearly indicate a lack of unity within the party, as there is a recognition that if the BJP secures more than 20 seats, the party will likely remain under the control of the Yediyurappa family for the next two decades,” a senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionary said. medium109780421Moreover, the Congress is leaving no stone unturned to retain its Lingayat support base, which it regained after 3-4 decades. In addition to its Ahinda — a combination of Muslims, OBCs (other than Lingayats and Vokkaligas) and SC/ST politics, the party is trying to form an umbrella coalition in the state by appealing to Vokkaligas in the south and Lingayats in the north.Furthermore, the Congress is attracting some Lingayat votes with prominent community figures like Patil, Shamur Shivashankarappa, Eshwar Khandre and Vinay Kulkarni, among others.With Siddaramaiah, a Kuruba leader, occupying the chief minister’s office in both 2013 and 2024, and the growing prominence of Dalit leader Mallikarjun Kharge in national affairs, the Congress has reinvigorated Ahinda politics in Karnataka. The party aims to leverage this revitalisation to deal another blow to the BJP’s longstanding support base in north Karnataka.