New Delhi: In a scathing rebuke during the BJP’s Foundation Day last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi derided the Congress and other parties for perpetuating “parivarwaad, kshetravaad, and vanshvaad (dynastism, regionalism and casteism)”.
But when the BJP unveiled its first two candidate lists for the upcoming Karnataka elections, the Congress also found some ammunition to hurl accusations of parivarwaad.
In a tweet Thursday, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh claimed that 34 out of the 212 candidates (out of a total of 224) announced by the BJP so far were only there due to “nepotism” and “parivarwaad”.
NEPOTISM + ROWDINESS = BJP Karnataka
The Real Face of the BJP is Exposed34 out of 212 candidates announced by BJP till now are there on the list due to NEPOTISM (PARIVARWAAD).
One of every six candidates announced by the BJP is blessed with PARIVARWAAD. pic.twitter.com/DHClLMxO0C
— Prof. Gourav Vallabh (@GouravVallabh) April 13, 2023
This expansive list also included Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, whose father S.R. Bommai had also served as CM. Another prominent name is B.Y. Vijayendra — the son of party veteran and former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa (BSY) — who will contest from Shikaripura in Shivamogga.
Despite the BJP’s oft-championed ‘one family, one ticket’ rule, two members each from four families have been given tickets.
Speaking to ThePrint, Vallabh said that the list showed that the PM’s words were “meaningless”.
“The PM launches regular attacks on parivarwaad, but the BJP keeps giving tickets to family members. Our point is, don’t preach what you are not able to implement in own party,” he said.
When asked about this, Karnataka BJP spokesperson Ganesh Karnik told ThePrint that “dynasty-owned parties” like the Congress were not the same as political families working within the BJP.
“We define a ‘dynasty’ differently. For us, a dynasty means a party that is owned and controlled by one family — like the Gandhi family for the Congress, the Deve Gowda family for the JD(S), the KCR family for the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi), and the Karunanidhi family in the DMK,” Karnik said. “These parties cannot function without their family members holding positions of power.”
Drawing a distinction for the BJP, he added: “If any politician’s son or daughter is working for the party and the constituency and gets a ticket through merit, there is no harm in it. The BJP is not a dynasty party like the Congress and other regional parties. Here, tickets are only given on merit.”
The BJP released its first list of 189 names Tuesday. The second list of 23 candidates was released Wednesday, and a final list is expected Friday. Nominations are being filed from 13-20 April, and voting is to take place on 10 May.
‘Dynasts’ in the fray
Despite the PM’s emphasis on “dynasty-free India”, over two dozen BJP candidates in Karnataka — including seven fresh faces — come from prominent political families.
In an instance of the ‘one ticket, one family’ rule being bent, Congress turncoat Ramesh Jarkiholi and his brother Balachandra have both been given tickets from Belagavi district’s Gokak and Arabhavi constituencies, respectively. The five brothers of the Jarkiholi clan wield tremendous influence in the district.
Another powerful Belagavi political family with two tickets in hand is that of the late minister Umesh Katti. His son Nikhil Katti will contest the Hukkeri seat, left vacant after Umesh passed away last September. Umesh’s brother Ramesh Katti is the BJP’s candidate for the Chikkodi-Sadalga assembly constituency.
In Ballari district, transport minister B. Sriramulu and his nephew Suresh Babu will contest from Ballari (Rural) and Kampli constituencies, respectively.
Two sitting MLA brothers of mining baron and politician G. Janardhana Reddy are also in the fray from this region. While Somashekara Reddy will once again contest from Ballari (City), G. Karunakara Reddy will defend his Harapanahalli seat.
Other ‘dynastic’ candidates who are familiar faces include minister Shashikala Jolle, the wife of BJP MP Annasaheb Jolle, who has received a ticket from Nippani, where she is the sitting MLA. She reportedly faced a protest at a village there earlier this week by a group of constituents who were disgruntled by her performance. Similarly, Bangalore South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya’s uncle Ravi Subramanya will once again stand for elections from the Basavanagudi seat.
In many cases, the generational baton seems to have been passed on to sons, and the odd daughter.
The son of Gulbarga MP Umesh Jadhav, Avinash Jadhav, will contest the Chincholi seat, while Tumkur MP G.S. Basavaraj’s son Jyoti Ganesh is the candidate for Tumkur.
Tourism minister Anand Singh’s son Siddharth Singh is standing in Vijayanagar, replacing his father. The trend continues with BSY’s son Vijayendra, who will contest from Shivamogga district’s Shikaripura, his father’s bastion for the last 40-odd years. BSY’s elder son B.Y. Raghavendra is the Shivamogga Lok Sabha MP.
Other notable dynastic candidates include Sapthagiri Gowda, the son of former minister Ramachandra Gowda, who will contest from Gandhinagar assembly constituency in Bengaluru.
Preetham Nagappa — the son of late legislator H. Nagappa and his wife Parimala Nagappa, also an ex-MLA — is the candidate for Hanur in Chamarajanagar.
Gowtham Gowda, the son of former MLC Marilinge Gowda, will contest from Ramanagara, and in KGF (Kolar Gold Field) constituency, Ashwini, the daughter of former BJP MLA Y. Sampangi, will stand as the party’s candidate. In Hubli-Dharwad, Arvind Bellad, the son of ex-MLA Chandrakant Bellad, has been given a ticket; he has represented the constituency since 2013.
Finally, in Saundatti Yellamma, Ratna Mamani, the wife of late MLA Anand Mamani, has been named as the BJP’s candidate.
However, it is worth noting that the party is still deciding whether to field K.E. Kantesh, the son of former deputy chief minister K.S. Eshwarappa, as a candidate from the Shivamogga seat.
Dynasty ‘dynamics’ in Karnataka
Political “dynamics” are such in Karnataka that the BJP is compelled to give tickets to family members of established leaders — something that it has been loath to do in other states like Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, said a Karnataka party vice-president.
“Every state has different political dynamics, and BJP’s growth in Karnataka is not as organic and universal as in other northern states like Gujarat. While the party can experiment in Gujarat and other states, in Karnataka, there is a political compulsion to improve its winnability as BJP is expecting a tough fight with Congress,” this leader told ThePrint.
He added that opposition parties had fielded “musclemen” and other “dabang” (strong) candidates from some seats, leaving the BJP no room to take chances with newcomers or to upset established leaders.
“Many political families consider politics as their legacy and wield huge influence in their respective areas, swaying electoral outcomes. That’s why we have to accommodate such families. Families like the Jarkiholis, Kattis, and Reddys are among those that wield great influence and power,” he added.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
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