The BJP is fighting this election as a national party while the Congress is playing it like a regional force.
At a closed door meeting with Karnataka BJP leaders in Bengaluru a couple of months ago, party president Amit Shah outlined two options on the way forward.
“If you listen to me, follow my advice, you will become Uttar Pradesh. If you do not listen to me, do not follow my advice, you will become Goa,” he said.
BJP leaders say the Karnataka unit had no choice but to listen to what Shah said, even though it smacked of arrogance.
“Amit Shah’s reputation as a leader who has achieved the impossible for the party, precedes him,” said one senior BJP leader. “Look at Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal, Tripura, Assam. Obviously it makes sense to listen to him.”
Since Mission Karnataka was launched in August, state BJP leaders have been happy to let Shah have the final word. He is micromanaging every detail ahead of the 12 May polls.
Despite reports of Shah ticking off leaders for poor crowd turnout, the slow work on the formation of booth committees, infighting, and the lack of energy in taking on the Congress, state leaders admire his single-minded focus and commitment.
On 31 December, he was scheduled to come to Bengaluru for a strategy meeting at 11 am with about 350 people, including MPs, MLAs, district presidents and functionaries. His flight could not take off from Delhi for more than four hours due to fog. But instead of cancelling the programme, he waited at the airport. He arrived late, but sent the message that the central BJP is serious about coming to power in Karnataka.
Shah has emerged as the face of the Karnataka campaign. While Rahul Gandhi appears to have let Siddaramaiah lead the way for the Congress, B.S. Yeddyurappa, the chief ministerial face of the BJP, has outsourced it to Shah.
This has led to a perceptible difference in the way the BJP and the Congress are approaching this election. The BJP is fighting this election as a national party while the Congress is playing it like a regional force.
With an ‘outsider’ like Shah at the helm of affairs, Siddaramaiah, in a clever shift of strategy, has harped more on Kannada regional identity to blunt the BJP’s card of nationalism. By highlighting issues like local culture, flag, language, the Congress is usurping the narrative.
It is an ironic reversal of roles. When Modi was Gujarat CM, he harped on Gujarati asmita to take on the Congress that was ruling at the Centre.
At first, it seemed Siddaramaiah was punching above his political weight when he began taking potshots at Shah and Narendra Modi aggressively on Twitter.
But now it seems that in Siddaramaiah, Shah has met his match. Siddaramaiah has managed to get under Shah’s skin, pushing him on the defensive.
The latest flashpoint is over Shah’s criticism of Siddaramaiah’s decision to accord separate religion status to Lingayats. He accuses the CM of dividing the Hindu community by calling him an ‘Ahindu’ – a jibe at Siddaramaiah’s famed AHINDA votebank (a Kannada acronym for backward classes, Dalits and minorities).
Siddaramaiah hit back by questioning Shah’s religion. He said the BJP president is a Jain and therefore he needs to clarify if he is ‘Ahindu’. Shah responded by pointing out that he is a Hindu Vaishnav and not a Jain.
What also helps Siddaramaiah is the language factor. His ability to connect with the people in Kannada gives him the advantage while Shah has to depend on a translator. His mocking and frequent brusque references to Shah as someone who has spent time in jail has ended up caricaturing the BJP chief.
In the worldview of Karnataka politics, Shah has come to represent New Delhi, since Modi is yet to start campaigning effectively. He has repeatedly accused the Siddaramaiah regime of eating away the money sent from the Centre. Which is why the CM by pointing out that Karnataka contributes more to the nation’s revenues while getting less than 50 per cent in return. And he claims that the state is, in fact, being discriminated against.
It has also positioned Siddaramaiah as the defender of Karnataka’s interests, in contrast to Shah, who has behaved as if Delhi is being charitable to the state.
By letting the central leadership of the BJP call the shots, the Karnataka BJP is cutting a sorry figure. While Siddaramaiah is building up the narrative of an unjust Centre and championing the cause of Karnataka, the state BJP is seen as being more close to Delhi than Bengaluru.
Even in the online space, the BJP and Congress social media teams target Siddaramaiah and Shah respectively. With Shah and not Yeddyurappa on its cover photo, the BJP Twitter page’s pinned tweet speaks of 15 May as the day of redemption from “the tyrannical rule of Siddaramaiah”. The social media team of the Congress, taking advantage of Shah’s few verbal goof-ups, has started thanking Shah, calling him the party’s “star campaigner”.
T.S. Sudhir is a freelance journalist and commentator who writes on the southern states.
BJA TOP BRASS NOT UNDERSTAND THE KANNADA PRIDE AND UNDER ESTIMATE THE LOCAL LEADERS DICTATING THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS IT WON’T WORK OUT HENCE IT WILL BE BENEFIT TO THE CONGRESS
Siddharamiah has shut down Lokayukta, was forced to shutdown steelflyover by people, has scant respect for NCLT and only has policies to attract minority communities.
We all are very interested to know that policies implemented in first two years on Power. Only the last year as a face saving measure all the policies are being implemented to brainwash.
Dividing religon for his own benefit does not good.
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The Print is from Shekhar Gupta ex. NDTV hence we cannot rely on this article as we all know NDTV is biased and anti-BJP.
Focus on the authors comments and introspect. But that you cannot do because what he has written is the truth!
Anti-BJP is not being biased. An unbiased reporter would naturally be anti-BJP because BJP is venom.
Idiotic comments
Congress ka paid bhadava
Truth is bitter. Try to argue against the points made by the author though it is beyond you.
ha ha ha Good one.
Language will be a constraint for the BJP’s star campaigners in Karnataka. Difficult to create the magic of spell binding oratory if an interpreter is at work. BSY is also coming across as something of an albatross. A national party would necessarily be judged by its performance on the national canvas.