As voters in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry sealed the fate of the parties on Wednesday, leaders from Karnataka who worked in the sweltering heat are headed back home. Before the dust settles from the hectic campaigning, many will return to the election arena in the heat and dust of North Karnataka where bypolls are slated for Belagavi Lok Sabha, Maski, and Basavakalyan.
A big team of leaders from both the BJP and Congress sweated it out over the last fortnight, coordinating with the local party functionaries in the conduct of elections in the three Southern States as well as faraway West Bengal. Interestingly, the BJP and Congress efforts in Tamil Nadu were led by Karnataka leaders C.T. Ravi and Dinesh Gundu Rao, respectively.
In the elections that are so deep rooted in local politics that the issues differ between regions, and the complex caste combinations at play, how did local leaders contribute to their party’s efforts despite linguistic barrier? In Kerala, Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwathnarayan led the BJP contingent, including Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary and leaders from coastal Karnataka region, managed the cadre, chalked out programme of national leaders, and identified venues for rallies among others. It operated a backend office that identified weak areas, strategised party’s participation while leaders also met local community leaders. Minister Arvind Limbavali was in West Bengal doing a similar activity.
Similarly, several Congress legislators, including Krishna Byre Gowda, P.R. Ramesh, H.K. Patil, M. Narayanswamy, and former Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwar, and others were in Kerala as party observers in allocated districts, and coordinated the overall efforts of the party.
“Usually leaders with good electioneering skills are deputed to areas where our cadres are still not good at it, to act as force multipliers. These leaders essentially take charge of the electioneering and all its logistics and rarely go campaigning,” said a senior BJP leader.
However, in border areas where there is a Kannada-speaking population, leaders from Karnataka also took out rallies and campaigned. In Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district that borders Karnataka, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar conducted rallies. Minister S. Suresh Kumar also went on door-to-door campaigning in parts of Krishnagiri while Minister S.T. Somashekar camped in Udagamandalam (Ooty) that has a sizeable Kannada-speaking electorate. Mr. Shivakumar was also part of election campaign at Kasargod in North Kerala.
With the leaders back in Karnataka now, the parties are chalking out their schedules for the byelections, said a leader.
