 "Karnataka polls: BJP wants derecognition of Cong over 'sovereignty' remark")
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday approached the Election Commission (EC) seeking action against Sonia Gandhi and de-recognition of the Congress for what the ruling party claimed “openly advocating” Karnataka’s secession from the country.
The move comes just two days before the southern state goes to polls, and just a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the same allegation during a rally. A BJP delegation, which went to the poll panel office in Delhi, also sought lodging of an FIR against Gandhi.
Addressing a rally in Hubballi on May 6, the Congress leader had slammed BJP, saying, “People of Karnataka are not dependent on anyone’s blessings, but trust their hard work and resolve.” During her entire speech, she did mention the word “sovereignty”.
But, after the rally, a tweet posted by the Congress’s official handle read, “CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji sends a strong message to 6.5 crore Kannadigas: “The Congress will not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka’s reputation, sovereignty or integrity.””
The ruling BJP latched on to the word “sovereignty” to attack Gandhi.
And, according to late night reports, the poll panel has issued a notice to the Congress leader demanding clarification on the social media post. It also sought “rectification measures in respect of the social media post which has been put up on the Official INC Twitter handle and attributed to Chairperson CPP.”
Replying to the BJP’s charges, Congress’ Randeep Singh Surjewala termed the attack “fakery and falsehood”, and an attempt to dodge questions on corruption.
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Meanwhile, as the dust over the campaign trail settled on Monday, the question was whether the Sangh Parivar’s fine-tuned poll machinery would help the BJP overcome anti-incumbency and caste fractures to secure a consolidated Hindutva vote and an unprecedented second term. The polling for the 224 seats is on Wednesday, and the counting of votes is on May 13.
Karnataka is one big state other than Bihar where Hindutva consolidation, despite decades of work by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has eluded the Sangh Parivar.
The Congress is convinced that it has run an efficient campaign and its focus on local issues, the alleged corruption of the BJP government, and its promised “five guarantees”, especially the Rs 2000 monthly allowance to women heads of households, would help it cross the halfway mark of 112.
The BJP in Karnataka remains a party that influential Lingayats, an OBC community comprising 17 per cent of the electorate, have supported since the 1990s, along with upper castes and a section of Scheduled Castes.
The Lingayat support for the BJP is the handiwork of 80-year-old former CM BS Yediyurappa, credited with getting the BJP from two seats in 1985 to 40 by 1994, who the high command sacked in mid-2021.
Well-known Lingayat leaders Jagdish Shettar and Laxman Savadi quit the BJP to join the Congress.
Karnataka’s other big OBC community, Vokkaligas, has remained immune to the Sangh Parivar's polarising charms, keeping its faith with HD Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (S) and the Congress, whose Vokkaliga leader DK Shivakumar is a chief ministerial aspirant.
Neither can the BJP match the Congress’ pan-Karnataka reach, as evident in their 2018 vote shares.
The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats, but its 36.35 per cent vote share was two per cent lower than the Congress. But the BJP, under Modi and Amit Shah, has often turned the tables on its rivals while the Congress has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
The election results would reveal if the Sangh Parivar's efforts at raking up the hijab issue, love jihad, and claims of Tipu Sultan's atrocities on Hindus help it consolidate Hindu votes in its favour. It would also have an eye on the Lok Sabha polls, hoping to repeat its 2019 performance, achieved on the back of Modi's popularity in the state.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Prime PM Narendra Modi was a big draw in Karnataka, as he was five years back, while UP CM Yogi Adityanath addressed a third of the 30 public meetings he did in 2018. Party sources attributed his relative absence to the ongoing UP local body elections.
Since the launch of his election campaign on April 28, Modi addressed 18 rallies and six roadshows, including three in Bengaluru and one each in Mysuru, Kalaburagi, and Tumakuru. In 2018, he addressed 21 public meetings. Party sources stressed that Modi met nearly 3,000 people during seven days of the campaign, with an eye on the Lok Sabha polls as the BJP hopes to repeat its 2019 performance a year from now.
For the BJP, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party chief J P Nadda addressed several public meetings and took part in road shows. The Congress also had the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in mind to have party president Mallikarjun Kharge and leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi address 80 public meetings.
Kharge addressed 31 meetings, Rahul 24, and Priyanka 23. Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra spent 21 days in Karnataka last year, but barring fleeting appearances, he skipped the party's election campaigns in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and the three northeastern states. Former party president Sonia Gandhi, who had not campaigned since 2019 because of ill health, addressed an election rally in Hubbali on Saturday.