Karnataka: Left to Project Alternative Policies
Vasanth N K
The BJP high command finally announced the first list of 189 candidates on April 11th late at night, after being subjected to hectic lobbying, threats, pressure tactics by candidates, and even senior leaders, as well as endless consultations, discussions, and postponements for several days. Eight sitting MLAs have been denied tickets, and most of them are unhappy, with some, including Minister S Angara, expressing their discontent openly. In addition, three senior MLAs and BJP founders, Yediyurappa, K S Easwarappa, and Srinivasa Poojary, had earlier opted out of the race supposedly "voluntarily". It is learnt that ex-CM and six-time MLA Jagadish Shettar and former Deputy CM Laxman Savadi have been informed that they should not contest and will not be given tickets. Both have rebelled and are likely to contest as independents or through other parties. All defectors who helped the BJP form the Government have been given tickets. Ramesh Jarkiholi, ex-BJP Minister, 'Operation Kamala' leader, and an accused in the Sex CD scandal, not only got his seat but also got tickets for all his supporters. He had openly threatened to rebel if all his supporters were not given seats. Many sons/daughters/wives of leaders have been given tickets, even though the party claims to fight 'Parivarvad'. Several rowdy-sheeters have been given seats, and there is a curious case of one rowdy-sheeter protesting loudly while another BJP candidate (an ex ADGP) publicly stating that he will pacify him. There have been loud protests, mass resignations, and rioting in front of BJP offices by supporters, including some party office bearers and members of local bodies, and by the aspirants who were denied tickets. The BJP high command is rattled by the response and is likely to reverse some of the decisions, particularly regarding Jagadish Shettar.
Senior Ministers V Somanna and R Ashok have been given two tickets (allegedly forcibly) to provide a 'tough fight' to two CM faces - Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar - respectively. 52 new candidates have been tickets.The BJP has claimed that these are 'fresh' and young candidates with promise, but two examples are enough to reveal the reality of these 'fresh' faces. One such candidate is a retired KAS officer L C Nagaraj, who has been accused of receiving a bribe of Rs 4.5 crores in the IMA scandal. Another is Yashpal Suvarna, who has been accused in the first cow vigilante violence in Udupi and stoked the fires of the Hijab controversy as a management committee member of the school which initiated it. These are the highlights of the BJP's list. Godi media’s claim that the BJP high command has 'weeded out' legislators of the old guard, tainted and facing maximum anti-incumbency, in a repeat of the 'Gujarat Model', falls flat when you examine even some of the highlights. A more detailed analysis will likely reveal it as a desperate last-minute compromise list.
Meanwhile, the Congress has announced its second list, completing the candidate selection for 169 seats. However, the Congress list has also sparked protests and rebellions. The issue of the second seat for Siddaramaiah from Kolar is still unresolved. JD(S), which is still grappling with intra-family issues, has announced that their second list is ready and will be announced soon, but it may be awaiting the final Congress/BJP lists. With most of the seats of major contestants already announced, aspirants are now approaching other parties or preparing to contest as independents, or even plotting to defeat the candidate to whom they lost the ticket. These developments are likely to result in a multi-cornered contest, rather than the expected two or three-cornered contest in most seats earlier.
The Nandini-Amul controversy has gained significant attention this week as a major election issue. The Congress and other opposition parties have alleged that an artificial scarcity of Nandini Milk is being created by the BJP with the collusion of Nandini and Amul authorities. It is alleged that this is being done to facilitate the entry of Amul into the Karnataka milk market and eventual takeover of Nandini by Amul. The merger of these two large milk cooperatives would be forced as a multi-state cooperative, with the central government having full authority. The plan is to eventually hand over both Nandini-Amul and its extensive assets and milk production network to giant corporations like the Ambanis. This move has been viewed as an attack on regional identity/autonomy and an example of extreme centralisation tendencies, and it has sparked a significant response with a vigorous #SaveNandini and #BoycottAmul campaign.
The absence of an option to write competitive exams for CRPF posts in Kannada language was also highlighted through a campaign. The opposition petitioned the EC to ban films and TV shows featuring Actor Sudeep, who is set to campaign for the BJP, but the request was rejected. The flooding of a metro station, including the platform, in the newly inaugurated KR Puram-Whitefield line once again highlighted the corruption and mis-governance of the BJP. An RTI query revealed that the state government had spent Rs 36.9 crores for the visit of the PM for the inauguration of the Shimogga Airport, which is still non-operational. This has raised speculations about the total cost incurred by the state government for seven such visits by the PM – mostly for BJP campaigns but combined with 'official’ inaugurations of incomplete projects. It has been reported that the application for permission to prosecute about 500 officers and legislators in corruption cases is pending with the BJP government for a long time, which is making a mockery of the 'Na Khaoonga, Na Khane Doonga' slogan.
As highlighted in the last report, apart from the three main bourgeois-landlord parties, there are other parties contesting elections in Karnataka. While they may not be the main players, they will have a substantial impact in many different ways. These include a seven-party front and parties like AAP, BSP, SDPI, KRPP, and KRS.
The seven parties, consisting of five Left parties (CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML-Liberation), SUCI©, Forward Block), Sarvodaya (earlier part of Swaraj India), and RPI (led by Mohan Raj), have formed an alliance and for the past several years they have been raising people's issues and fighting for a pro-people alternative. These parties and the mass organisations led by them have organised and participated in struggles on various issues of workers, peasants, dalits, women, and held a general campaign against neo-liberalism and communalism. Many joint conventions were held, and they have projected a set of alternative pro-people policies that were jointly worked out. In the run-up to the election, they also held discussions and arrived at the following broad guidelines for participation in elections:
- Defeating BJP shall be the main goal in these elections. We should avoid contesting in constituencies where our contest is likely to help BJP win.
- In constituencies where we are not contesting, we should actively campaign for a candidate who is most equipped to defeat BJP.
· Our independent general campaign will focus on exposing anti-people neo-liberal and communal policies and project a set of pro-people alternative policies.
· We should contest in constituencies where we have a winning chance or end up in the second place. We should strive hard to have representatives (currently none) who can raise the voice of the people in the legislative assembly.
· We should not contest against each other and should campaign for each other.
However, there have been some differences subsequently in the approach of individual parties, particularly in the approach to the Congress and the JD(S).
LEFT CONTEST
The CPI(M) has decided to contest only in four constituencies. The Party will be contesting again in Bagepalli (in Chikkaballapura district), which was previously won by the Party in 1983 (by Comrade A V Appaswamy Reddy), in 1994, and 2004 (by Comrade GVS Reddy), and in most other elections, it stood second. Bagepalli is part of the undivided Kolar district, which has been a stronghold of the communist movement in Karnataka. The selected candidate, Dr Anil Kumar Avulappa, will be filing his nomination on April 15th in the presence of Party general secretary Sitaram Yechury. Dr Anil Kumar is a popular doctor and social activist with many years of experience. He is currently a member of the secretariat of the CPI(M) Chikkaballapura district committee.
Dr Anil Kumar's novel method of containing the Covid pandemic in 160 villages in and around Bagepalli taluk, with the help of 480 volunteers, was widely appreciated, including by the district health authorities. His method, described as the 'social consolidation strategy', has demonstrated the effectiveness of a simple, people-led, and grassroots-based effort to challenge the pandemic when the existing healthcare infrastructure proved to be inadequate. The Party began its campaign quite early on September 18, 2022, with a political convention inaugurated by Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and chief minister of Kerala. The Party has also conducted a survey of the constituency to identify the pressing issues that need to be addressed in the Party's action plan for the area.
The CPI(M) will be contesting in three other constituencies - KGF (Kolar Gold Fields)-SC, Kalburgi Rural (SC), and KR Puram (of Bangalore district), with two of them being reserved for Scheduled Castes. KGF is another constituency where the Party has a long history of contesting. It was considered a stronghold of the communist movement since the 1940s, with a strong base among goldmine workers. The undivided CPI won this seat in the very first election (1952) and retained it in 1957 and 1962. KGF also has the distinction of electing Comrade K S Vasan, the first Communist MLA in Karnataka.
After the formation of CPI(M), Comrade T S Mani, a goldmine worker and trade Union leader, won the seat in 1985 and secured second place in 1983 and 1989. The current candidate, P Thangaraj has been contesting since the 2008 elections. He has been active in the youth movement and is a member of the Kolar district committee.
Kalburgi Rural (SC) is another constituency where CPI(M) has a long history of contesting. Previously known as Kamalapura, it was reorganised for the 2008 elections. Comrade Maruti Manpade, a veteran CPI(M) and peasant leader, used to contest this seat until his death during the Covid pandemic. This time, Panduranga Mavinkar will be the candidate. It's worth noting that all the CPI(M) candidates are below the age of 50.
CPI(M) has also been contesting in the KR Puram constituency, an eastern industrial suburb of Bangalore City. This constituency has the dubious distinction of having returned Byrati Basavaraju, who was one of the 19 MLAs who defected to BJP as part of 'Operation Kamala' and resigned the seat. He was re-elected in the 2019 by-elections. The constituency was home to the famed public sector giant ITI, which employed over 25,000 workers and is now nearly closed. Nanjegowda, who is active in the ITI contract workers' movement and currently works with the construction workers' union, is contesting from here. He is a member of the CPI(M) Bangalore North district committee.
CPI is planning to contest in seven constituencies and has declared support for the CPI(M) candidate in Bagepally and the Sarvodaya candidate in Melukote. It has also declared support for Congress candidates in the remaining constituencies. CPI (ML-Liberation) is planning to contest in two constituencies, while SUCI is contesting in 13 seats. Forward Block is not fielding any candidate.
Sarvodaya Party was formed as the political wing of KRRS (Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha) and some dalit groups, and was supported by dalit and progressive intellectuals/activists, including renowned author Devanura Mahadeva. It had merged with Swaraj India earlier but decided to revive its original identity after Swaraj India decided not to contest elections. Peasant leader Puttannaiah was its popular leader and had won the Melukote seat as an independent in 1994. He had been contesting the seat and was elected again in 2013, but unfortunately passed away in 2018 before the elections. Sarvodaya Party fielded Darshan, son of Puttannaiah, in Melukote in 2018 and he came second. He is being fielded again, and Congress has decided not to contest the seat. Sarvodaya Party is planning to contest a total of 25 seats, while RPI led by Mohan Raj is planning to contest 20 seats.
OTHER NOTABLE CONTESTS
Aam Admi Party (AAP), now recognised as a national party, is contesting all 224 seats. AAP started its campaign quite early with its anti-corruption and better governance platform. It projected Bhaskara Rao, ex-ADGP, as its CM candidate. However, subsequently, he resigned from AAP, joined BJP, and even got a ticket! AAP is likely to make some impact in a few urban constituencies.
BSP had contested 18 seats in the 2018 elections in alliance with JD(S) and had an MLA who subsequently joined BJP. It has not yet finalised its plan. SDPI had entered the fray in three constituencies in 2018, but could not win any. However, it had polled 10.5 per cent of votes where it contested. SDPI, a party that represents minority communalism, has spread its base considerably since the last elections, thanks to the unrelenting communal polarisation campaign by Sangh brigade and the BJP government. Although it has not finalised its contest, it is understood that it is contesting in most constituencies with a considerable Muslim population. If that happens, it is likely to have a considerable impact on the results.
Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Party (KRPP) is the new party entering the fray. It was recently formed by Janardhana Reddy, a mining baron who funded the first 'Operation Kamala', and an influential ex-BJP minister with many corruption cases and scandals. It will be contesting mostly in four districts - Ballary, Koppal, Raichur, Vijayanagar - where his influence is quite deep. His motives are not clear, but it is likely to demonstrate his political support and possibly become a kingmaker. His party's list is also not finalised yet, but it is likely to have an impact on the results in these four districts.
KRS, started by an activist who left AAP, is another new party that has entered the contest with anti-corruption as its main platform. It has announced candidates for 110 seats so far! Though most parties have announced candidates for most constituencies, the full picture of the contest will take another week.
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