In Karnataka, parties vie for Vokkaliga vote

CM Basavaraj Bommai with BJP leaders; Congress leaders D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah. Pics/PTI

As Vokkaligas (15 per cent of the population) are considered to be the second major community of Karnataka after Lingayats (17 per cent), the focus is on how whether there would be a shift in their voting stance in the May 10 Assembly election as the ruling BJP has aggressively tried to woo them.

One can gauge the role Vokkaligas play in Karnataka politics from the fact that it has given seven chief ministers to Karnataka since independence. A retired IAS officer added that H D Deve Gowda, a Vokkaliga, became the first person from Karnataka to occupy the post of prime minister.

The Old Mysuru region, the community's stronghold, has 58 Assembly constituencies, which is more than one-fourth of the total number of seats in the 224-member House. JD(S) represents 24 seats, Congress 18 and BJP 15 in this region in the current Assembly. Gowda-headed JD(S) counts the Vokkaligas as its main vote base in the region, where it's main fight is with the Congress though of late the BJP has been able to make some inroads.

Also Read: Karnataka polls: Congress holds meeting to finalise candidates for remaining 58 seats

Seeking to expand its base among Vokkaligas, the BJP government made the 2B category of four per cent reservation exclusively for ‘other backward Muslims' redundant and distributed it equally among Lingayats and Vokkaligas. With this, quota for Vokkaligas has gone up from four per cent to six per cent. The move pleased the revered seer of Vokkaliga community, AdiChunchanagiri Math pontiff Swami Nirmalanandanatha, who praised the BJP government.

As part of its Vokkaliga "appeasement" exercise, the BJP built a 108-ft tall Nada Prabhu Kempe Gowda's statue, the founder of Bengaluru and 16th century chieftain of Vijayanagara dynasty, near the Bengaluru International Airport.

10 May
Day Assembly elections will be held in Karnataka

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