Will the 233,003-strong electorate of Varuna, carved out of Chamundeshwari constituency after the 2008 delimitation exercise, help Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) all-out effort to ‘finish Siddaramaiah’ of the Congress?
Although Varuna will answer the question in the May 10 polls, the perception from one village to the other is that this is a contest too close to call, and the toughest yet that the former chief minister has faced in the constituency although he has a slight edge, being the only person in the fray hailing from the constituency itself.
A tense silence pervades the constituency, spread over Mysuru, Nanjangud and T Narasipura taluks, that begins immediately after crossing the Varuna lake, a boating hub, with no one overenthusiastic about speaking candidly.
Tough call
“Too many outsiders roaming around, Sir. We do not know who is who,” confided Chikkanna of Varuna village.
But Chandrappa of the village is forthright. “Tough fight sir. We cannot say in whose favour the balance will tilt. Never been this tight ever.”
A few months ago, the contest appeared as a walk in the park for former chief minister and Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, who even announced that he would win hands down without even having to visit his home constituency.
But given the fact that he is one of the biggest draws for Congress, especially among the backward classes in the State, the BJP has left no stone unturned to raise the poll temperature and forced the ex-CM to visit the Constituency often.
Apart from fielding Housing Minister V Somanna, targeting the sizeable Lingayat votes in the constituency, and national and state BJP leaders led by none other than Home Minister Amit Shah himself travelling the nook and corners of the constituency, the party has ensured that it will be a tight race in Varuna with the electorate predicting the margin of victory for either candidate to be only between 2,000 and 10,000.
Emotional card
That Siddaramaiah, who also has a bigger responsibility to ensure the victory of Congress candidates across the state, knows that he is up for a battle in his constituency was clear on Thursday when he led from the front and took his campaign in Varuna to new heights, unleashing the Congress’ glitz and glamour.
He toured the Constituency addressing public meetings, accompanied by sandalwood stars Shivarajkumar, his wife Geetha Shivarajkumar, former Mandya MP and actress Ramya, and Nishvika Naidu.
The outcome at Varuna will clearly have a bearing on the state’s political landscape post these elections. This after Siddaramaiah had already spent four days in April third week in the constituency. Siddaramaiah, by repeating that it is his last election, is also playing an emotional card, and making efforts at lending credibility to the announcement by introducing his grandson, Dhawan Rakesh, as his successor.
This is significant because Siddaramaiah announced his retirement from politics only to do a volte face and contest the 2018 polls. Currently, Dhawan Rakesh, along with Siddaramaiah’s son Dr. Yethindra Siddaramaiah, who currently represents the Constituency, is on an all-out effort to ensure his father’s victory.
Track record
“Siddaramaiah has done a lot of development works, be it roads, bridges, the Varuna Canal or the new Hospital. His son has taken the father’s good work forward too. But the opposition is sparing no expenses, and it remains to be seen if development will get the mandate or politics of caste polarisation will prevail. I feel Siddaramaiah will win,”, says Sharada of Varuna, who wants a garment factory to be set up in Varuna and the Varuna Lake, being polluted by discharges from Naganahalli, Bootgalli and Chikkalli villages, cleaned.
During the early days of the polls, when Somanna was declared the BJP candidate in Varuna, alongside Chamarajanagar, said to be his choice, though he is a resident of Bengaluru, the word around was that he had been made a scapegoat, and he did not stand a chance against Siddaramaiah as an outsider and contesting from two constituencies. He will have to resign one, if he wins in both, and Varuna is said to be his choice.
But with the announcement of tickets by other political parties and BJP itself showing a clear intent, the story took a new turn, forcing Siddaramaiah to spend more time and Congress more energy in Varuna. Others in the contest are former BJP MLA of T Narasipura Dr Bharathi Shankar, a Scheduled Caste (SC) leader, as Janata Dal (Secular) candidate and Bahujan Samaj Party state president M Krishnamurthy, both of who are expected to divide the SC votes, and help the BJP’s cause.
Since Varuna constituency came into existence in 2008, Siddaramaiah has represented it twice, while his son Dr Yathindra is the MLA at present. Siddaramaiah contested from Chamundeshwari and Badami in 2018, allowing Dr Yathindra to contest Varuna. Siddaramaiah, in a major setback, had lost to G T Devegowda of the JD (S), with a huge margin of 36,042 votes, in Chamundeshwari, and had won in Badami with a narrow margin of 1,696 votes against BJP’s B Sriramulu.
Native advantage
Chikkamadappa of Dandikere describes the current elections in a lighter vein, “Sir, the lady is pregnant. What is it going to be, a boy or a girl? Nobody knows.” He refused to venture into it further.
It is noteworthy that Siddaramaiah, who has contested eight elections in Chamundeshwari, won five of them-- 1983, 1985, 1994, 2004 and 2006. He lost in 1989, 1999 and 2018. The 2006 bypolls against political novice Shivabasappa of the JD(S), supported by the BJP was tough as he won with a slender margin of 257 votes.
Dr Yathindra won with a margin of 58,616 votes in 2018 and hence, there is a pressure of sorts on Siddaramaiah to win with a higher margin this time round.
Unlike his fellow contestants, Siddaramaiah has an advantage of being a native of the segment and can hence leverage the benefits of staying in his constituency during the last 48 hours before polling.
Lingayat vote
That BJP’s Somanna is banking on the Lingayat consolidation is an open secret.
“Lingayats, around 75, 000 strong, for the first time are showing some early signs of coming together and voting as a block. Others have been doing so for decades. But, one never knows for the community has never shown such a tendency before,” an elder of Dandikere Maddapa ruminated.
Others like Doreswamy and Puttaswamy of the village are worried at the way youngsters have a new found access to meet their drinking and gambling habits.
Walking the talk
On Thursday, Siddaramaiah thanked the voters for having helped him become the chief minister once and sought their continued support this time to reenergise him politically. His public addresses were spun around the Congress poll guarantees of 10 kg rice, free bus rides for women, 200 units of free power, unemployment benefits to the youth, and Rs.2000 for women heading the household.
He pointed out that the Congress walked the talk last time around, and fulfilled 158 or 165 promises made and had introduced a clutch of welfare programmes like Anna Bhagya with Rs.1 per kg of rice, Kheera Bhagya, Shaadi Bhagya, Vidya shree, and Mathrupoorna, among others.
He urged those who thronged the streets and villages to have a glimpse of his w0rk to vote against BJP as a protest against rise in prices of essential commodities and the incumbent government’s alleged corruption.
In many places of the constituency, verdant with paddy, sugarcane and coconut groves with River Kabini coursing through the fields, people braved the sweltering heat and waited for his cavalcade.
Sham quotas?
Incidentally, the ex-CM’s campaign has drawn support from all over the State, with a group of youth from Bangalore touring the constituency. “We are campaigning against privatisation, and telling people that all these quotas announced by the BJP is a sham and the entire effort is an attempt to completely get rid of reservation. The party is also anti-poor, having done away with many benefit scholarships and learning addendums like laptops,” Ramesh, a member of the team, confided at Suttur.
Ravi of Beligala is upfront, “BJP wants to finish off Siddaramaiah. They are not pro-poor. Otherwise, why could Amit Shah and others tour all over? But Siddaramaiah is our own. He will pull through.”
Siddaramanahundi, the village of Siddaramaiah, is a quaint place hemmed in the midst of farmlands. And there too the mood was one of silent expectation.
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