BENGALURU: The state government may have sought to end the textbook row by ordering eight corrections in books for various classes, but the issue is unlikely to die down with assembly elections less than 10 months away.
Opposition parties Congress and JD(S) are bound to make it a major issue for the polls as the controversy has riled all major communities — Vokkaligas, Lingayats, and Dalits. The ruling BJP is likely to hit back over “mistakes” in previous revisions, especially those done when the Siddaramaiah government was in power between 2013 and 2018.
Some BJP party functionaries admit that the controversy over chapters pertaining to BR Ambedkar and Kuvempu is likely to hurt them the most, considering Dalits and Vokkaligas are major vote banks in the state.
The alleged disrespect to Kuvempu has given JD(S) and Congress an opportunity to undo gains BJP has made in the Vokkaliga belt of the Old Mysuru region over the last few years.
“The controversy has dented the party’s image in the region,” said B Harsha Vardhan, Nanjangud BJP MLA. “We paid heavily for it in the MLC elections to South Graduates’ constituency which we lost. We need a course correction now. ”
Some say the government must rebuild its image by staying away from “controversial” issues and concentrating on chief minister Basavaraj Bommai’s budgetary promises. “And more importantly, the government and party need to project the strong leadership of prime minister Narendra Modi,” said Vardhan, a first-time MLA and son-in-law of Chamarajanagar MP V Srinivas Prasad.
This is easier said than done. HD Kumaraswamy, former chief minister and JD(S) floor leader, confirmed this when he said neither the ruling party nor the principal opposition want the issue to die down.
“I can assure you that this issue will definitely resonate in the 2023 elections because the government took the revision errors very lightly,” he said. “Now, with the issue having received political traction, neither BJP nor Congress will let it die down. ”
Reinforcing Kumaraswa- my’s intuitions, Congress spokesperson M Lakshman said: “Both KPCC president DK Shivakumar and opposition leader Siddaramaiah have said they will continue to protest the revisions until the new textbooks are completely withdrawn. We are awaiting further directions in this regard. ”
On the other hand, BJP state general secretary N Ravikumar said if the opposition lets the row fester, then the saffron party will react strongly.
“We are hoping the issue will fizzle out with Monday’s government order,” he said. “But if opposition parties try to keep it alive, then BJP will react strongly. Let them tell us how Tipu Sultan came to be glorified in previous textbooks while contributions by the Mysuru Wadiyars were sidelined. ”
Education department sources say minister BC Nagesh has commissioned a team to identify errors introduced by the previous Baraguru Ramachandrappa revision committee. They have identified as many as 169 “mistakes” till date. “This is only in history and social science textbooks,” an official said. “If we start looking at other subjects, then the number will increase manifold. ”
