The BJP in Karnataka, has benefitted from its alliance, with the regional party, Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS), as it helped it get a foothold in the Vokkaliga camp - a prominent caste group dominant in the southern Karnataka region.
JDS helped BJP get two major wins, one in Kolar, with Mallesh Babu, winning with a margin of 71,388 votes, and HD Kumaraswamy, the prominent Vokkaliga face, winning in his home turf of Mandya, with a margin of 2,84,620 votes, strengthening its kitty. However, JDS’ rape accused candidate for Hassan, Prajwal Revanna lost.
“Kumaraswamy, though, has the reputation of a renegade in the context of the BJP coalition government, of the BS Yediyurappa government. He has recovered from that, and slowly moved towards BJP, as a survival move, and inherited the mantle of his father of being the true leader of the Vokkaliga community,” said political analyst Harish Ramaswamy.
This was crucial for BJP, as the party, currently, does not have a strong Vokkaliga face. Its Vokkaliga leaders, R Ashok, and Ashwathnarayana, have not been able to garner community support in the past.
This alliance was aimed at bringing the Lingayats, and the Vokkaligas together. The geo-physical spread, of these communities, is also in a way divided in Karnataka. With North Karnataka having more Lingayats, and the Vokkaliga concentration being in the South, this social engineering, was essential for the BJP, to stall the success of Congress in the southern region, with Siddaramaiah, hailing from the Southern district of Mysore, and DK Shivakumar, being a Vokkaliga, hailing from the same district, but living in Bengaluru, explains Ramaswamy.
On its own, the BJP won 17 seats in the state, prominently in the coastal, and southern regions. Although the JDS has come to its rescue in the southern part of the state, the party, still has a weak spot, when it comes to North Karnataka. BJP is lacking a strong Lingayat face, that can mobilise the community, after its star leader Yediyurappa has moved away from electoral politics. However, now his son BY Raghavendra, who won from Shimoga, is seen to have potential to be the Lingayat face.