Though the Congress has questioned the timing of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raids on 14 premises linked to Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D.K. Shivakumar and his brother and MP D.K. Suresh, whether the party will foreground it prominently as a poll issue in the forthcoming byelections to Sira and Rajarajeshwarinagar Assembly constituencies remains a question.
T.B. Jayachandra, former Minister and Congress candidate from Sira, did not call it a “poll issue” but said the people would teach the ruling BJP a “fitting lesson” for constantly targeting party leaders through the Income Tax Department, Enforcement Directorate, and the CBI during elections.
Sources in the party said Mr. Shivakumar would talk about being “targeted” as he campaigns in both the constituencies. However, a party insider pointed out that the raids by Central agencies had become “almost a routine affair” in the past few years and might not transform into a “sympathy factor” in the bypolls.
A few Congress leaders said that loyalties of caste, religion, and local issues were expected to play a major role in both constituencies.
In Sira, all three political parties are expected to field candidates belonging to the Vokkaliga community. There are an estimated 49,000 Kunchitiga Vokkaliga voters and about 8,000 Hallikar Vokkaliga voters in Sira. There are about 80,000 voters belonging to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities in the constituency and their votes are expected to play a decisive role.
The BJP may field Rajesh Gowda, son of former MP C.P. Mudalagiriyappa, while the JD(S) may field Ammajamma, wife of the late B. Satyanarayana, whose death necessitated the byelection.
The Congress has decided to field Kusuma H., wife of the late IAS officer D.K. Ravi, in R.R. Nagar constituency in the city. Though the Vokkaliga community has a sizeable chunk of votes in the constituency, the BJP improved its base in the 2019 parliamentary elections. The JD(S) and BJP have not announced their candidates here.
Won’t impact goernment
The results of these byelections will have no impact on the stability of the State government. But if the Congress wins both seats, then it could claim that the results reflected the failures of the government. The Congress is expected to focus largely on the development works undertaken by the former Siddaramaiah government, the “anti-farmer” policies of the current State and Union governments, and the failures of the B.S. Yediyurappa government to handle the COVID-19 crisis.
