Ranebennur: In the Lingayat heartland, BJP, Congress to share the spoils?

In the land of freedom fighters like Mailara Mahadevappa and Gudleppa Hallikeri, a battle is raging for the hearts and minds of voters with two constituencies, Ranebennur and Hirekerur set to go to the hustings on December 5. Haveri, where these assembly constituencies are located, was once a Congress bastion before the BJP made a foray into the district nearly a decade ago. The influence of Lingayat strongman and Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa helped the saffronists establish their sway in a place where the community is dominant. Most BJP leaders in Haveri are identified with Yediyurappa as they had joined the erstwhile Karnataka Janata Party launched by him en masse when he broke away from the BJP. The Congress is now facing a tough challenge in retaining Hirekerur – the only seat it had won in the district in 2018. The other seat, Ranebe-nnur, which was represented by KPJP MLA R. Shankar, is now witnessing a fight between former Speaker and Congress candidate K.B. Koliwad and the BJP’s Arun Kumar Guthur with Shankar not in the fray and likely to be rewarded by the saffron party with an MLC seat and a ministerial berth. It will no doubt be an uphill task for Guthur to defeat Koliwad, a five-time MLA who lost by a narrow margin to Shankar in 2018. Vittal Shastri examines the drastically different trends in both constituencies in a land considered the domain of the Lingayats.

In the Lingayat heartland, BJP, Congress to share the spoils?

The Congress and JD(S) might have suffered a severe setback after the defection of their legislators, leading to the collapse of the coalition government in July but the resultant bypolls have left ex-Speaker and senior Congress leader K.B. Koliwad elated as it has come as a blessing in disguise for him. Many felt his political career had ended after he was totally sidelined in the Congress following his broadside against former CM Siddaramaiah and his assembly poll loss. But the bypolls have given him a new lease of life after his defeat last year to disqualified legislator R Shankar of KPJP in Ranibennur.

Five-time legislator Koliwad no doubt enjoys an edge over his BJP counterpart Arun Kumar Guthur in Ranibennur which is known as the largest seed production hub in the country. The commercial town, which is the gateway to the North Karnataka region, has also earned the distinction of being the highest producer of genetically modified cotton crop. The farmers reaped a bumper crop just a decade ago through production of Bt cotton but now, production has reduced drastically by 70 per cent owing to low yield, pest diseases and recurring drought conditions.

Disqualified MLA Shankar is extending support to the BJP this time and has managed to keep his vote bank intact by reportedly distributing saris, utensils and clothes among them last year. He won the 2018 election as he enjoyed the full support of the Kuruba community to which he belongs but he has lost a lot of the goodwill as he stayed away from Ranibennur for several months after disqualification by then Speaker Ramesh Kumar despite the constituency facing devastating floods. This could be one reason why he decided to support the BJP candidate and not enter the fray after Yediyurappa assured him a ministerial berth by getting him a seat in the upper House.

“Though our constituency did witness some development during the earlier tenure of Koliwad, the woes of the farmers continue as the construction of sub-canals under Upper Tunga Project remain incomplete. Compensation has not been distributed among land losers under the project. There is a need to desilt the lakes to free farmers from the drinking water problem”, said Ranibennur taluk Raitha Sangha president Karabasappa Agasibagilu.

It will be a direct fight between Koliwad and Arun Kumar Guthur as both belong to the dominant Lingayat community. Koliwad is trying to woo voters by declaring that the by-poll is his last election as he is planning to field his son next time. He is also trying to capitalise on the sympathy factor as he had lost by a small margin of 4,000 odd votes last year and received a shot in the arm after several members of Ranibennur city municipal council joined the Congress deserting the KPJP recently.

For BJP candidate Arun Kumar Guthur, the problems are plenty as the allotment of the ticket to him has sparked a revolt in the BJP with several workers hitting the streets protesting against the move. They are supporters of another BJP ticket aspirant, Basavaraj Kelagar who had secured 49,000 votes (27.31%) as the party’s official candidate in the previous Assembly election. They have even claimed that Guthur did not work for Kelagar when he contested in 2018 and are unlikely to support him in the by-election though party leaders are doing their best to pacify them.