Siddaramaiah, agri factors loom large in poll battleground Kolar
Congress party, which has released two list of candidates for the ensuing Karnataka polls, is silent on Kolar.
Sitting in a temple compound, the JD(S) candidate CMR Srinath, one of the hundreds of tomato merchants in this town, boasts about his first-mover advantage.
“The BJP and the Congress haven’t decided their candidates while I have already covered my constituency. This is an agricultural belt. JD(S) is a local party and is devoted to farmers,” Srinath says.
“But if the Congress fields (former chief minister) Siddaramaiah, it will be a tough fight,” he adds.
At a roadside cold drinks shop, Manjunath, a local BJP supporter, says it is a fight between the JD(S) and the BJP in Kolar, a semi-urban seat with roughly 40% urban population.
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“If Siddaramaiah is fielded, the entire equation will change. While (former CM) HD Kumaraswamy has a hold on the people of his caste (Vokkaliga), Siddaramaiah is extremely popular among OBCs, SC and Muslims.”
The Congress party, which has released two list of candidates for the ensuing Karnataka polls, is silent on Kolar. Siddaramaiah has told the party high command that he wants to contest from both Varuna and Kolar but PCC chief DK Shivakumar is batting for one seat each for all contestants.
As the Kolar issue hasn’t yet been settled, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has twice deferred his rally here. Now, the Congress has announced he will come on April 16. It was Gandhi’s speech in Kolar at a rally in 2019 that led to his conviction and his disqualification from the Lok Sabha on March 24.
Even as Manjunath maintains that Rahul Gandhi’s presence will have little impact, he adds that a number of people who are “politically aware” have sympathy for Gandhi.
Asoka, who runs a mess in the town, said, “Many people feel bad about Gandhi’s disqualification due to a speech made in Kolar. But I doubt if that is an election issue. Leaders will focus on local issues.”
A senior Congress leader based in Bengaluru said Gandhi’s disqualification will be a key plank in the campaign in Kolar and adjoining areas but Srinath rejected the possibility of Gandhi becoming s factor in the Kolar poll. “We know very well what are the major issues. We are reaching out to the farmers, SCs, STs and minorities in our door-to-door campaign. Kolar’s politics is about silk, milk, mango and tomato.”
Kolar has remained a tough constituency for the Congress party and it was won only five times in the 14 assembly elections. The current MLA K Srinivas Gowda was elected from JD(U) with 46% votes, in an indication how the JD(S) is strong in this belt. In 2018, the Congress managed less than half of Gowda’s votes, at 21.5%.
The Congress MLC from Kolar, ML Anil Kumar, said over the phone that “Siddaramaiah’s impact will not be confined to Kolar.” “If he contests from Kolar, which the party must allow him to, the Congress can improve its chances in the neighbouring seats as well.”
The battle in Kolar demonstrates the fight in the crucial old Mysuru-Bangalore rural region that has the potential to decide the fate of the election. The parties’ prospects in the central Karnataka and the old Mysuru belt are likely to decide who will enter the Vidhan Soudha victoriously.
