CM Siddaramaiah’s ‘Modi like’ campaign failed: Congress leaders

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's strategy to imitate PM Narendra Modi, portraying himself as the leader of the masses, failed miserably, according to Congress leaders, who have analysed the party’s poor performance in the BBMP polls.

Siddaramaiah’s decision to split the city into five divisions and name them after religious and social leaders like Babasaheb Ambedkar Nagar, Veeraputra Sangollirayanna Nagar, Tipu Sultan Nagar, Kempegowda Nagar and Basaveshwara Nagar apparently caused major heartburn among a large section of Vokkaligas and other communities. This led to the collapse of the Congress campaign midway. Also, the Congress’s decision to introduce the party manifesto in five different languages – Kannada, English, Urdu, Tamil and Telugu – for the first time did the damage.

A senior leader told Deccan Chronicle, “Siddaramaiah got it all wrong since the beginning of these polls. He tried to gamble by taking a lot of risks and lost miserably. His campaign for the BBMP polls was a copy of Modi’s canvassing before the Lok Sabha polls. Siddaramaiah pitted himself against many in his own party as well as the opposition. He tried to project himself as Congress’s poster boy. He thought his seven rounds of city visit would make him the face of Congress for Bengaluru. Unfortunately, it did not happen,” they said.

“Siddarmaiah neither had the time nor patience to explain his government’s vision or schemes to the urban voter, as the campaign was designed at the last minute. Not the party media managers, but Siddaramaiah, has to be blamed for the drive, as he gave the green signal to carry out this massive campaign just a week before the polling,” sources said.

Jingles on FM radio stations and large hoardings across the city projected him as the sole leader of the party, leaving out others. It was a major flaw in the campaign, as it had never been the culture of the Congress. Even former external affairs minister S.M. Krishna lashed out at him. Krishna obliquely terming him as a man swimming in a sea of arrogance, just a day before the polling, sent a clear message to a large section of voters, the source said.

Though Siddaramaiah never said on record that the five divisions of Bengaluru would be named after social and religious leaders, the Congress did not issue any clarification when a prominent daily carried the report. They tried their hands at controlling the damage, but it failed to reach the target audience.

The final nail was when the party released the manifesto in five languages, which was unveiled by Siddaramaiah himself. “It seemed to reiterate the government’s plans to name the divisions along five different religious and social leaders,” the source explained.

‘Despite poor show, Siddaramaiah won’t be touched’

The BBMP poll results may not have any major fallout in state politics. However, it would certainly reduce Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s clout within the party. The poll debacle would reduce his bargaining power with the party central leaders too, particularly when it comes to the long overdue cabinet expansion. “Now, he cannot be the final voice on the reshuffle of his ministry. The party high command would take his opinion but it will take a final call on such issues, which otherwise, has rested with him for two long years.”

Sources in the party said it would not punish him for the poll results and that the party high command would give him a long rope before taking any calls. “Even though a few in the party said that dissident activity would rear its head, that’s unlikely as Congress leaders and workers are convinced Siddaramaiah enjoys the confidence of AICC president Sonia Gandhi or vice president Rahul Gandhi. No senior leader would dare to identify themselves with the dissidents. So, unless the position of Siddaramaiah at the party central level is undercut, dissident activity is unlikely,” a senior leader said.

In addition, “Two months from now, the zilla and taluk panchayat elections will happen across the state besides elections to legislative council from local bodies. If Congress party loses there too, then he becomes vulnerable,” party sources said. Others suggested that this was the beginning of his downfall which may taken 6 months to one year to come to fruition.

Congress city ministers not to be axed

Despite the drubbing in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike elections, the five Congress ministers from the city who may have feared they would be axed in any forthcoming cabinet expansion can breathe easy as they posted modest, if not spectacular results in their respective constituencies than the previous polls.

The five ministers – R. Ramalinga Reddy, R. Roshan Baig, K.J. George, R. Dinesh Gundu Rao and Krishna Byregowda won almost five wards each in their constituencies. Insiders said that the five could not be held responsible for the Congress debacle as they had managed to hold their own in their own areas of influence.

A senior leader told this newspaper: “None of them can be blamed for inadequate performance in the polls, as the CM Siddaramaiah himself had fixed the rules of game and they just adhered to it. It was Siddaramaiah’s decision to allocate one minister to 28 Assembly constituencies. Thus, the responsibility of these five ministers too was restricted to their respective constituency. Therefore, it would be difficult for anyone to hold them responsible as they are not responsible for all of Bengaluru,” the source added.

The source further contended that the city ministers – even though they retained their hold over five out of eight wards – will take cover under the same line trotted out by Siddaramaiah when the Congress party lost miserably in Lok Sabha polls in 2014. “Siddarmaiah took shelter under the pretext that national issues were the reason for the party’s debacle and it had nothing to do with his leadership,” the source observed.