DK Shivakumar in Channapatna Bypoll Fray? Old Mysore to Vokkaligas, Karnataka’s Toy Town Set for Prestige Game

Famous for its beautiful lacquer toys, Channapatna in Karnataka is seeing a different game being played out on its land — a political power play between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

What’s new in it? In the months to come, it will be a prestige battle for Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to regain what he lost, the control over Old Mysore region.

The Channapatna fight becomes crucial given that the Bengaluru Rural seat, where his brother and four-time MP, DK Suresh, was trounced by BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) first-time candidate Dr C N Manjunath.

The bypoll in Channapatna was necessitated after Janata Dal Secular’s (JDS) HD Kumaraswamy, now Union Steel Minister, who was elected from this seat in the assembly polls and won from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat, vacated it.

Shivakumar has already swung into election mode again even before the by-poll dates have been announced. He has visited the assembly segment four times, including today, in less than a month after the Lok Sabha results to get a feel of the ground in an attempt to wrest the Channapatna seat held by the JDS.

REGULAR VISITS, VOKKALIGAS AND OLD MYSORE

This fight is about regaining control in the Old Mysore region and claiming the trust of the Vokkaligas, a community that the JDS prides itself on representing. Shivakumar had tried to become the face of this community, a strategy that hurt the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls.

He is now toying with the idea of contesting from this seat as the Congress finds itself in a fix; as of now, the party does not have a winnable candidate to contest from this seat. Suresh has refused to contest, and a faction of the Congress has been putting pressure on Shivakumar to run.

“Channapatna has always been in my heart as it was part of the erstwhile Sathanur Assembly constituency, the seat which I represented and started my political career. The people of Channapatna have been with me through tough times and I have a debt to repay. My visit to temples here and meeting local leaders is to get a sense of what they want, and I will decide on contesting later,” Shivakumar said last week.

Many senior Congressmen have advised him against contesting from Channapatna.

“A dark horse, hardworking and popular face can be pitched. DK should facilitate that person’s win, not contest himself,” said a Congress leader from the region.

Sources close to Shivakumar say that internal analysis on the loss of seats by the Congress, especially in the Old Mysore region, attributed the losses to the fact that the DCM did not campaign enough in the region. Shivakumar himself admitted on the day of the results that had he campaigned more in Bengaluru Rural among other seats, the Congress could have gained more.

“If DK had campaigned vigorously in the last few days in the Old Mysore region during the parliamentary elections, where the stakes were higher, the Congress could have won a couple more seats comfortably. This time, we are asking him to consider Channapatna as there is a general feeling that only if DK stands, will the seat be won by the Congress, or else it is a foregone conclusion,” said a senior Congress leader on condition of anonymity.

SHIVAKUMAR’s FIGHT, OPPORTUNITY FOR BJP

The BJP sees this as a perfect opportunity to prove the strength of their alliance with the JDS. The BJP has been steadily gaining ground and support in the Old Mysore region, which it earlier did not have much hold over. The BJP has been gaining confidence in its ability to breach the Vokkaliga fortress and southern Mysore region, including Mandya, with the win in the KR Pete by-election in 2019. Having the JDS, the party that makes no bones about calling itself the representative of the Vokkaligas in Karnataka, also on its side, the alliance partners believe they can further win the three seats that are going to by-elections — Mandya, Sandur and Shiggaon.

For Shivakumar, who is keen to emerge as one of Karnataka’s strongest and most influential Vokkaliga leaders, a title that has been with JDS patriarch H. D. Deve Gowda and his party, it is crucial to win the three seats as it would be a crucial contribution towards his ambition of occupying the Chief Minister’s post, one that he has been lobbying hard to get. An unwritten pact was arrived at, it was said by the Congress high command, of a change of guard after the Lok Sabha polls and giving the CM seat to DKS. However, with the results not up to the Congress high command’s mark, Shivakumar has been asked to wait a little longer for his turn.

“If Shivakumar wants to contest, it is his call. The party and the workers will wholeheartedly support him and work towards his win,” said senior Congress minister Santosh Lad on the question of whether the DCM should contest from the seat.

An internal report of the Congress indicated a slight shift in the Vokkaliga community votes towards the BJP, one that was prominently seen during the Lok Sabha polls, where the BJP-JDS parliamentary alliance bagged more votes, which the party finds quite concerning.

“Winning all three seats may be beneficial to firm his claim to the CM seat. The Congress gave seven Vokkaliga leaders tickets in the parliamentary elections, all were DK’s choice of candidates. But only one won,” observed the senior leader.

The Deputy Chief Minister is also keen on settling political scores for the defeat of his brother in the Lok Sabha election by ensuring the victories of the party candidate in the by-elections in all three seats.

JDS’s CANDIDATE

If the BJP plans to field actor-turned-politician C. P. Yogeshwar, who has been elected five times from the segment (once as an Independent, twice from the Congress, once from the BJP, and once from the Samajwadi Party), then the party’s alliance partner JDS will not be able to field Kumaraswamy’s son, Nikhil. In the LS polls, as part of the seat arrangement with the BJP-JDS, the latter gave up the Bengaluru Rural seat to allow Dr. Manjunath of the BJP to contest.

This time, the JDS may put its foot down and demand that the Channapatna seat, which was earlier held by Kumaraswamy himself, should be allotted to Nikhil or the JDS’s choice. Nikhil contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Mandya as well as the 2023 Assembly election from Ramanagara constituency and lost both elections.

“Yogeshwar has been given an offer to contest from Channapatna on the JDS symbol, we will have to see what his plans are,” said a JDS leader. It is learnt that Yogeshwar has refused the offer and has asked to contest as a BJP candidate. Will Yogeshwar step aside if the JDS seeks to put its candidate as part of the understanding between the BJP and JDS? Yogeshwar’s aides say no.

The Congress is faced with the challenge of not having a winnable candidate, while the BJP is faced with a problem of plenty. Traditionally, the Congress and JD(S) have always been political rivals in the Old Mysore region and the Channapatna seat is not an easy one to win. Having seen several closely contested battles between the JDS and the Congress, both parties have won from the assembly segment five times each. Both Yogeshwar and Kumaraswamy are strong Vokkaliga leaders and in the 2023 assembly polls, Kumaraswamy won with a margin of about 15,000 votes, a thin margin, especially in the Vokkaliga bastion.

BJP spokesperson N. Ravikumar said that the alliance partners are confident of winning all three assembly by-polls, including Channapatna, with a good margin.

“Just as we won Bengaluru Rural seat with a handsome margin, we will win Channapatna as well with our alliance strength. The Congress is so scared that they will face a miserable defeat that they are now thinking of launching their top state leadership like Shivakumar to contest. It will be a keenly fought and watched contest,” he said.