Separately, Modi-Shah courted OBCs, SCs, and STs

Karnataka’s backward classes and Dalits seem to be the target of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s own tactics.

 

At his rally on Saturday in Chikkaballapur, Modi continued to invoke the name of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, saying, “The SC/ST and OBC communities have gained tremendously from our (Centre’s) development initiatives.”

Shah is organising an OBC rally at Kibbanahalli Cross in the Tumakuru Lok Sabha seat on Wednesday, taking the party’s pitch a step further. Alongside him on the dais will be JDS leader and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.

They are anticipated to discuss the ST tag problem with Kadugollas. “We are about eight lakh voters across the state and we will back the BJP-led NDA this time,” said Rajanna, the community’s state president.

Despite Rahul Gandhi, the senior leader of the Congress party, pledging to carry out the caste census if the party is elected to power, the party has not been able to get any traction in the state.

Using this gap, the BJP is attempting to gain the support of OBCs—all except Kurubas, who support Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Siddaramaiah is gradually isolating himself to the Kuruba group, keeping other community leaders in the dark. Making the most of the chance, the BJP would court more OBCs and develop new leaders, a BJP official said.

According to reports, the saffron party is using a unique tactic to promote Modi as their representation rather than dependent on local leaders from these areas to win over votes. This decision was made after consulting with a think tank.

The BJP hierarchy believes that the majority of Karnataka’s Veerashaiva Lingayats support Modi’s leadership, and the party’s strategy is to win over the remaining members. Political analysts argued that forming a coalition with JDS to win over Vokkaligas and fielding Gowda’s son-in-law Dr. CN Manjunath is all part of a larger plan.

Siddaramaiah and BS Yediyurappa, the former chief minister and senior BJP leader, used to court the groups in their own unique ways, with Siddaramaiah positioning himself as the defender of the AHINDA group, which stands for minorities, the lower classes, and Dalits.