This is not the first case, when the issues of distant states have become political issues in the elections of other states. Earlier, during the UP elections last year, the hijab controversy erupted in schools in Karnataka.
Assembly elections are due in the southern state of Karnataka on May 10. The political temperature is at its peak. Now, in the same political heat, the entry of the mafia don Atiq Ahmed murder case, which took place 1,700 km away in Prayagraj, UP has further stirred a storm. BJP leader and Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje has alleged that Congress Rajya Sabha MPs Imran Pratapgarhi and Atiq Ahmed had a close relationship. He has alleged that the Congress MP used to consider mafia don Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed as gurus and used to call them elder brothers. With the help of this, the BJP has tried to corner the Congress.
Political battle in figures
At present there is a BJP government in Karnataka. According to the Election Commission, a total of 5 crore 21 lakh 73 thousand 579 voters will exercise their franchise in this election. Of these, 2.59 crore are women, while 2.62 crore are male voters. According to the Election Commission, there will be a total of 9.17 lakh voters in the state who will vote for the first time. Their age is between 18 to 19 years.
What is the profit and loss for BJP?
The ruling BJP at the Center and Karnataka has been doing politics of polarization of voters on religious lines for a long time. In UP, where earlier BJP used to do politics on the basis of Babri demolition, it has now been mobilizing voters on the basis of the claim of building a Ram temple in the same Ayodhya and on the temple-mosque dispute elsewhere. In Karnataka too, BJP has been continuously making such efforts on the pretext of Tipu Sultan.
Political parties have given their full strength to win the elections. The round of allegations and counter-allegations is also going on. Amidst the political uproar, there are a few issues that have dominated the entire election. Political analysts say that the election of Karnataka will also revolve around these issues. Be it the opposition or the ruling party, everyone is raising these issues loudly.
War on Muslim, Dalit reservation
At present, two issues of reservation are very hot in Karnataka. It has the first Muslim reservation. Two days ago i.e. on March 27, 2023, the BJP government of Karnataka abolished the 4% reservation given to Muslims. According to a report, about 13 percent of the population of the province is Muslim. This is the reason that politics has intensified against this decision of the BJP government.
Both Congress-JDU have announced that if their government is formed in the state, they will implement this reservation again. At the same time, BJP says that Congress and JDS are making such promises in the name of Muslim votes. Reservation for Muslims in Karnataka was first given in 1994 under the HD Deve Gowda government. Considering Muslims as socially backward, they were given reservation in government jobs and education.
The second issue of reservation is related to the Banjara community. In the same month, the Karnataka government divided the four per cent reservation for the Muslim community into two major communities, Veerashaiva-Lingayat and Vokkaliga. Earlier the Vokkaliga community used to get four per cent reservation, it has been increased to six per cent. There will now be seven percent reservation for Panchamasalis, Veerashaivas along with other Lingayat categories. Earlier it was five per cent.
The Banjara community of the state is opposing it. As soon as the verdict came, people of this community pelted stones at the house and office of BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa. They say that the reservation of Scheduled Castes has been reduced. According to reports, their number is around 20% in the state. Earlier they were getting 17% reservation. On March 27, 2023, the reservation for Dalits was divided into several parts. They are angry about this very thing.
Politics heats up on Tipu Sultan
Politics has always been hot in Karnataka regarding Tipu Sultan. This happened again before the elections. This dispute has been going on since 2015, when the then Congress government announced to celebrate Tipu Sultan’s birth anniversary. During that time the BJP had opposed it. Now BJP has claimed that Tipu Sultan was killed by Vokkaliga community people. Tipu Sultan was not a freedom fighter.
The Vokkaliga community has about 14 per cent votes in Karnataka. In such a situation, it is believed that BJP is trying to gain an edge by raising the issue of Tipu Sultan. Congress and JDS still celebrate Tipu Sultan’s birth anniversary, while the BJP, after forming the government in 2019, decided not to celebrate Tipu Sultan’s birth anniversary. The government also announced that the section on Tipu Sultan would be removed from the school curriculum. However, later the Education Minister clarified that there is no such idea. That part will be removed from the syllabus, which is baseless and imaginary.
Hijab controversy fizzles out
Hijab controversy started in Karnataka from 2021. Then six girl students who came wearing hijab to the Government College in Udupi were stopped from entering the class. The protest that started from here spread across the state and then across the country. In February 2022, Hindu students came wearing saffron to a college in Udupi itself. Slogans of Jai Shri Ram were raised in schools. Rahul Gandhi also said on this issue that the education of girl students is being stopped through hijab.
In February 2022, the Karnataka High Court said that religious clothing cannot be worn in educational institutions. The Supreme Court declined an urgent hearing on the matter. In March, the High Court said that the hijab is not religiously necessary, so it cannot be worn in educational institutions.
In February 2023, the Supreme Court heard the matter. The decision on this has been reserved. Hearing on this matter went on for 10 consecutive days in the Supreme Court. Still this matter is pending in the court. The issue became politically dominant. Congress and JDS have also made it an election issue. But still, the BJP feels the issue won’t bring them home and heavyweights like BS Yediyurappa have said that issues like hijab, halaal do not matter.
Attempt to target BJP on corruption issue
Other opposition parties including Congress-JDS have tried to corner the BJP on the issue of corruption. Rahul Gandhi had alleged during a rally that work is done in Karnataka by taking 40 per cent commission. Recently the son of a BJP MLA was caught by the Vigilance while taking bribe. After this the MLA was also arrested. Congress and other parties of the opposition are raising this issue a lot. Alleging that corruption has increased in the BJP government and no work is done here without bribe. At the same time, BJP is not considering it as an issue in Karnataka. BJP leaders say that it can happen only in the BJP government that a leader of one’s own party can be caught taking bribe.
Condition of religious equation
According to the 2011 census, the population of Karnataka is 6.11 crore. Of these, 84 percent are Hindu, while about 13 percent are Muslim. The population of Christian and Jain communities is 1.87 and 0.72 percent respectively. Among Hindus, SC is 17 percent and ST population is 7 percent. On the pretext of current Atiq Ahmed, BJP is trying to bring a majority of 84 percent Hindu voters in its fold.
Consolidation of Hindu Voters
Hindu voters can be mobilized towards BJP due to the electoral entry of controversial issues based on religion. In such a situation of mobilization, BJP has been benefiting earlier also. Apart from religious polarisation, political parties also work on equations of ethnic mobilisation. At present, the game of wooing the Lingayat voters is also going on between the Congress and the BJP in Karnataka. To woo the Lingayats, the Congress has agreed to give them the status of a separate religion. Siddaramaiah has said that this demand of Lingayats will be fulfilled if his party forms the government.
What is the social equation of Karnataka?
Like the Lingayats, who account for 17 per cent of the population, Karnataka also has a Vokkaliga community, which forms about 14 percent of the population. Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s party JDS has been getting support from this community. The hold of this party is more on this community.
The community dominates 27 of the 28 assembly seats around Bangalore. The Congress has also been trying to get the votes of this community. The BJP has recently increased the reservation for this community from four per cent to six percent to make a dent in this vote bank of both these parties. The political supremacy of this community can be gauged from the fact that seven of the 17 Chief Ministers of the state have been from this community.
