BJP-JD(S) Show Of Strength In 'Mysuru Chalo' Forces Congress To Go On The Back Foot — Ground Report

A few kilometres past Mandya city, when we were just about to enter Srirangapatna — Karnataka's historical town famous for Ranganathaswami Temple — vehicular movement suddenly slowed.

As we hit the brakes, curious onlookers bent down to glimpse what was happening on the service road. Many assumed it was an accident.

It was the 'Mysuru Chalo' padayatre in action.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally Janata Dal (Secular) flagged off the march to demand the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for his alleged involvement in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) scam.

Covering 130 kilometres, the march cut across four districts of southern Karnataka including Bengaluru, Ramanagara, Mandya and Mysuru. Described as an 'Ashwamedhayaga' by Congress's rivals, the padayatre comes at a critical time as an important by-poll is around the corner.

Shaky Start, But Steady Progress

After a shaky start with a disgruntled ally — Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy threatening to pull out — the week-long padayatre began on 3 August. According to reports, Home Minister Amit Shah was unhappy with the lackadaisical coordination between the alliance partners.

According to sources close to the BJP leadership, Shah met with B Y Vijayendra, Karnataka BJP chief, late at night on 1 August, and advised him to "take everyone along".

He asked Vijayendra to resolve differences amicably and summoned him to seek an explanation for the existing confusion.

The BJP unit in the state was left red-faced after H D Kumaraswamy openly announced his decision not to be a part of the padayatre. This decision came because the former Karnataka Chief Minister was unhappy with BJP leader Preetham Gowda's presence in the padayatre. Preetham Gowda is a young BJP Vokkaliga leader who is seen as a competition to Prajwal Revanna and Nikhil Kumaraswamy.

These are unverified media reports, so one does not know the true reason behind H D Kumaraswamy's thinking.

But he decided to put aside the differences and extended support to the march. However, BJP insiders tell Swarajya that the padayatre is helping Vijayendra shape his image.

Since Vijayendra belongs to the Lingayat community, building his popularity in the northern belt would not be as difficult as the BJP finding acceptance in the Old Mysore Region — Mandya, Hassan and Ramanagara specifically.

Launch Pad For Nepo Kids?

The Congress has accused the BJP and the JD(S) of using this padayatre as an opportunity to launch Nikhil Kumaraswamy and B Y Vijayendra. With Nikhil being touted to become the JD(S) president soon, and Vijayendra already serving as the president of the BJP in the state, the word around town is that the parties have come together to ensure a future for their wards in the state's political scene.

However, B Y Vijayendra disagrees. He tells Swarajya that the party (the BJP) has fought the Congress in the assembly and outside of it too. He says that the Congress cannot tell what his party can or cannot do.

"I have taken this decision as the president of the BJP Karnataka in consultation with our partner parties. The allegations are directly against CM Siddaramaiah, and not a member of his party/government. That is why we are asking for his resignation, as he has been directly implicated in this scam," he says.

In his opinion, 'Mysuru Chalo' was important to inform the people of Karnataka on how Siddaramaiah's promises have not been kept and no development work has taken place ever since he took the oath.

"They (Congress) are indulging in scams to pocket money for themselves. That is how they funded the Congress party's Lok Sabha campaign as well. CM Siddaramaiah has already accepted a financial misappropriation as far as the Valmiki scam is concerned. Even in the MUDA scam, the properties are being valued at around Rs 110 crore," he adds.

Caste Politics, Continued?

Amid the bonhomie between the saffron and the secular forces, a thin undercurrent of insecurity is creeping in, as all the parties are vying to dominate the Vokkaliga politics in the region.

After D K Suresh's harrowing loss from the Congress bastion that is Bengaluru Rural, the 2024 Lok Sabha election result has been a wake-up call for all the parties to introspect on where they all went wrong individually.

For the BJP, they have never been a serious player in the region, to begin with. Only Preetham Gowda made some inroads into the Hassan region but was soon overshadowed by a patronising JD(S) who ensured Prajwal Revanna gets the ticket to contest the elections despite Amit Shah reportedly suggesting against it.

Everyone knows what happened later. With Pratap Simha on a sabbatical and Sadananda Gowda retired, the party has little to no face to show as far as the Vokkaligas are concerned. For the JD(S), it is retribution time. They do not want D K Shivakumar to get any more powerful and make himself the representative of the entire community.

For the Congress, Shivakumar fears his only good chance at becoming the chief minister slipping away after his brother's loss. When Channapatna goes for the by-election, it will be interesting to see the outcome. From what we gather, it is going to be Nikhil Kumaraswamy versus Aishwarya DKS.

BJP's Chance To Make Inroads?

So, was this whole padayatre a plan to make inroads into the region for the BJP?

Pratap Simha thinks otherwise.

"After the 2023 defeat we faced, the party has taken time to introspect because we also lost in traditionally strong Lingayat areas in northern Karnataka. No one party or person can declare themselves a representative (paLegara) of any one caste or community. Times have changed," he remarks, as he waves towards his supporters, donning a black polo shirt and an Ambedkar blue stole.

He says that the Congress reacting to the padayatre harshly is a sign of its weakness.

"If a party in power has to spend crores of rupees to mobilise crowd, organise rallies and demonstrate 'support' for themselves and be embarrassed when the same crowd humiliates you (Simha is referring to the video where women voters denied receiving benefits from the guarantees at one of Shivakumar's interactions), then they have all the reason to be worried, yes," Simha adds.

BJP leaders also suggest that the internal rivalry within the Congress ensured that the documents related to the MUDA allegations were made public by the disgruntled parties.

C T Ravi, a former minister in the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government in the state, feels that the party has been successful in mobilising the public sentiment against the current establishment.

"The natural next step for us to do is to ensure a free and fair investigation of all the allegations," he says, smiling at his supporters, wearing polarised sports sunglasses and a white kurta.

The BJP is reportedly planning another padayatre on the same lines in northern Karnataka, most likely between Bidar to Ballari or Ballari to Chitradurga.