Karnataka assembly elections have entered their final phase. The southern state has six regions and elections in each region are also unique. As part of our special series, News18 reporters travel to each of the six constituencies to get a pulse of the electorate and give a 360-degree view of which way the political wind is blowing.
Serenity abounds along the breezy beaches of Coastal Karnataka. Outwardly, however, coastal Karnataka has seen decades of communal politics and a churning of violence that has polarized the region.
The region has been divided over a series of volatile issues which have decided which party will gain ground. So far, communal politics, retribution killings and anti-incumbency have played a role, but this time, the issues are different – boycott of Muslim traders, hijab, halal and azan lines. The political campaigns of both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have avoided sharp communal angles, instead focusing on caste politics,
Voters are divided on the ground. Those who feel that the Hijab issue was important to bring uniformity in education are considering supporting the BJP. Those who feel that the BJP has touched the nerve of Muslim girls by forcing them to remove their hijab while attending classes, can vote against them. A touch of drama has been added by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), which is seeking votes, urging people to oust the “communal BJP” and the “backstabber Congress”.
Though the Congress and the BJP are locked in a neck-to-neck fight despite being a BJP bastion, both the parties are hoping that the wind will blow in their favour.
BJP hopes coastal waves will wipe out Congress
Coastal Karnataka has been called the Hindutva laboratory and fort of the BJP, and the party hopes to retain it. He believes that his election pitch of a double engine government with new faces to promote GenZ will help him get the numbers.
The 2018 elections were fought on emotional lines, where the BJP highlighted the “fight to protect Hindutva and its people”, accusing the Congress of “foot-dragging” when the Popular Front of India (PFI ) had brutally murdered six Hindu youths. Worker”. This time the focus of BJP has changed and the keywords of their campaign are ‘development’ and ‘nationalism’.
The BJP is riding a huge wave of confidence that the hijab issue will not affect their fortunes, rather their approach of tilting political rhetoric towards nationalism and development will bear fruit and give them a big boost.
A senior BJP leader who has been tasked with continuously monitoring the party’s election campaigns in coastal Karnataka said people want “development, development, development! Everything else is hue and cry”.
Read this also | BJP turning coastal Karnataka into Hindutva laboratory: Siddaramaiah
The party believes that the hijab controversy will not affect the results and they will win all the 19 seats in the region, which includes Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada.
The BJP had won 17 of the 19 seats in the coastal region, while two went to the Congress – UT Khadar (Mangalore) and Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur). In 2019, along with 17 other MLAs, Hebbar jumped to the BJP, leaving Khader as the lone Congress MLA from the region.
The Congress’s campaign pitch included “the failure of the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government, the 40% commission charge of corruption, PayCM and how the communal BJP will only further tear apart the social fabric of the beautiful, prosperous and peace-loving coastal Karnataka”.
New Experiment: Fielding New Faces
In its coastal bastion, the BJP denied tickets to five of its MLAs, including three senior leaders. Sulia’s sitting MLA S Angara, who has been elected six times, was denied ticket and replaced by new face Bhagirathi Murulya. Another sitting MLA and senior BJP leader Raghupati Bhat did not find a place in the list as his seat was given to Yashpal Suvarna, the poster boy of the anti-hijab campaign. Sitting MLA Lalaji R Mendon (Coup) was replaced by Bunt leader Gurme Suresh Shetty; Gururaj Gantihol replaces BM Sukumar Shetty (Byndur); And a newcomer Kiran Kumar Kodgi was elected to Kundapur, after his mentor and sitting MLA Haladi Srinivasa Shetty announced his retirement from electoral politics.
Read this also | ‘BJP keeps experimenting’: Karnataka leader CT Ravi on 52 new faces in first list
Karnataka Energy and Culture Minister V Sunil Kumar is seeking to win the Karkala seat again as he is taking on Muniyalu Uday Shetty of the Congress. However, the fight for the seat took an interesting turn when Pramod Muthalik of the right-wing outfit Shri Ram Sena decided to contest. He has emphasized his campaign to ‘save Hindutva and fight corruption’, the first being the BJP’s agenda and the second being the election pitch of the Congress.
The Congress has fielded six new faces, including former union minister Margaret Alva’s son Nivedith, M Dinesh Hegde (Kundapura), G Krishnappa (Sulia) and Rakshit Sivaram (Beltahangadi) from Kumta in Uttara Kannada.
hijab shade
The controversy over the wearing of hijabs in educational institutions will certainly be something voters in the region will keep in mind before casting their votes, but he says it is not the “only issue”. As News18 spoke to voters, the hijab found its way into every conversation.
Read this also | ‘PFI created unrest, didn’t want girls to study’: Hijab row poster boy Yashpal Suvarna is BJP’s Udupi candidate
Haneefa Khannam, a young architect is on her way home from Mangaluru city to Kapu, where she has been working for a few years. Sitting on a tender coconut to beat the sweltering heat, she waits near the bus stand. Draped in hijab, she speaks of how she is proud of her dress because it gives her a sense of security.
“I feel safe in it. Our hijab is part of our rights and religion and no one can point a finger at it. No one will tolerate this, no Muslim woman will. This election is a big blow to all those who hurt us.” Will teach a lesson.
Several hijab-clad women News18 spoke to echoed Haneefa’s sentiments.
“Preventing us from wearing the hijab is a violation of our religious rights and asking us to remove it in public is a violation of our fundamental rights. Every woman, irrespective of religion, should keep this in mind before casting her vote,” said homemaker Shagufta.
Sisters Poornima and Shalini Shetty, who are active members of their college student union, say a new face should be elected to improve Udupi, instead of communalising it with issues like the hijab. He said, ‘We need good roads, women’s safety, jobs… Let’s focus on this. Young faces can make a definite difference,” said Shalini.
Revenge killing and caste politics
Anger is simmering among BJP workers in the region, who feel the party has not done enough to protect the foot soldiers – whether Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activists such as Pravin Netaru, who was murdered, delay in getting justice to the families of or the killing of Deepak Rao in Surathkal in 2018; or Sharath Madiwala, who was hacked to death in July 2017; Or Rudresh, who was murdered in broad daylight in Bengaluru in 2016. Activists say they expected more than just announcements and false promises. BJP is trying to pacify this anger.
“It has been six years since my son Sharath was murdered. I have run from door to door but we are yet to get justice and put the real culprits behind bars,” said Taniappa Madiwala, who has now built a ‘memorial’ or ‘memorial’ for his son as a constant reminder of the need for justice. Memorial has been built. ,
In Netru’s case, while the investigation has been handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), as in other murders, his wife has been given a government job and the local BJP unit has helped fulfill the RSS worker’s dream of building a new house. have helped. For family. BJP national president JP Nadda had also said during his campaign that Netru’s martyrdom will not go in vain. “We will not forget the killings of our brothers. When asked about the workers’ morale being hurt, Sabha Karandlaje told News18, “We will get justice for them.”
Netru’s murder, however, raised another issue, which until now was only discussed in hushed voices – how the BJP used Bilwa community (OBC) activists, including Netru, to acquire land in the region, But he was not rewarded with high posts. Government. The community was represented by two ministers in the Bommai cabinet.
To avoid any backlash, the BJP gave tickets for the election to four Billavas, including three sitting MLAs and a new face.
Coastal Karnataka dominates the politics of Karnataka. Will the tide turn in favor of the BJP or will there be a big swing in favor of the Congress? The ballots will tell on May 13.
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