SHIVAMOGGA: It's a three-cornered contest in Shivamogga City assembly constituency in more than one sense. The BJP, JD(S) and Congress applicants are from the 3 other castes Kurubas, Lingayats and Brahmins, respectively, that have a vital presence within the constituency.
The outcome: Vote looking for has changed into a digital side road fight in a town that has grown exponentially over the past decade.
Lingayat (35,000), Brahmin (30,000) and Kuruba (18,000) votes constitute one third of the electorate. Muslims though are the largest chunk with 55,000 votes, followed by SC/STs (40,000) and Vokkaligas (15,000). Surprisingly, the town which is bang within the centre of Karnataka has as many as 19,000 Tamilian citizens.
A studying of the bottom situation in Shivamogga City suggests that BJP's bigwig Okay S Eshwarappa is preventing a difficult battle within the face of a shrewd caste calculations Congress and JD(S) have resorted to whilst opting for their applicants.
Eshwarappa is closely banking upon the polarization of votes and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to weave his magic to look him via. Confident that middle class and skilled Brahmin citizens are in his party's kitty, Eshwarappa is attempting to make in-roads into the Congress vote bank by focusing on the 44 'slums' within the town and assuring slumdwellers name deeds to their small 10 toes x20 toes homes.
Claiming that the fight is 'virtually' won even earlier than it has begun, the BJP chief, who used to be reduced to fourth place in 2013, says Hindutva and Modi have touched off an remarkable pro-BJP wave.
"I do agree that there is polarization of votes but the aura of Modi is waning due to false promises of creating jobs and financial security to citizens," says Congress MLA Okay B Prasanna Kumar, who hails from Brahmin group. Kumar though is reasonably worried and hesitant to accept that caste can be a factor.
"If caste is the criteria then JD(S) candidate H N Niranjan, a Lingayat, should get the second highest number votes and it will not be a straight fight between me and Eshwarappa," he says.
Niranjan, on the other hand, is campaigning that the fight is between him and Eshwarappa and he will ensure that the latter is defeated by a huge margin.
"Congress considers that by fielding a Brahmin, it has cornered Brahmin votes and thinks it will win because of the support of Muslims. But then, these numbers do not add up as Brahmins have always sided with the BJP and Muslim votes will be split between JD(S) and Congress," mentioned a BJP chief.
The outcome: Vote looking for has changed into a digital side road fight in a town that has grown exponentially over the past decade.
Lingayat (35,000), Brahmin (30,000) and Kuruba (18,000) votes constitute one third of the electorate. Muslims though are the largest chunk with 55,000 votes, followed by SC/STs (40,000) and Vokkaligas (15,000). Surprisingly, the town which is bang within the centre of Karnataka has as many as 19,000 Tamilian citizens.
A studying of the bottom situation in Shivamogga City suggests that BJP's bigwig Okay S Eshwarappa is preventing a difficult battle within the face of a shrewd caste calculations Congress and JD(S) have resorted to whilst opting for their applicants.
Eshwarappa is closely banking upon the polarization of votes and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to weave his magic to look him via. Confident that middle class and skilled Brahmin citizens are in his party's kitty, Eshwarappa is attempting to make in-roads into the Congress vote bank by focusing on the 44 'slums' within the town and assuring slumdwellers name deeds to their small 10 toes x20 toes homes.
Claiming that the fight is 'virtually' won even earlier than it has begun, the BJP chief, who used to be reduced to fourth place in 2013, says Hindutva and Modi have touched off an remarkable pro-BJP wave.
"I do agree that there is polarization of votes but the aura of Modi is waning due to false promises of creating jobs and financial security to citizens," says Congress MLA Okay B Prasanna Kumar, who hails from Brahmin group. Kumar though is reasonably worried and hesitant to accept that caste can be a factor.
"If caste is the criteria then JD(S) candidate H N Niranjan, a Lingayat, should get the second highest number votes and it will not be a straight fight between me and Eshwarappa," he says.
Niranjan, on the other hand, is campaigning that the fight is between him and Eshwarappa and he will ensure that the latter is defeated by a huge margin.
"Congress considers that by fielding a Brahmin, it has cornered Brahmin votes and thinks it will win because of the support of Muslims. But then, these numbers do not add up as Brahmins have always sided with the BJP and Muslim votes will be split between JD(S) and Congress," mentioned a BJP chief.
Will caste arithmetic add up in 3-cornered clash?
![Will caste arithmetic add up in 3-cornered clash?]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
May 04, 2018
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