JD (S), the kingmaker awaits

The intensive campaign underway for the May 12 poll in Karnataka reflects the changing political dynamics on the battleground. Political discourse has sunk to a new low, and flip-flops abound. Days after lavishly praising his predecessor and Janata Dal (Secular) president HD Deve Gowda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised voters against choosing the regional party. Perception shapes politics of the day and the orator in Modi is deft at adopting tactics factoring in the altering landscape and crafts words for it. For discerning watchers, the encomium showered on Deve Gowda signalled a soft attitude of the BJP towards the JD (S), triggering speculation of a post-poll arrangement. Suddenly, Modi has changed tack.

Every election has its own importance but Karnataka marks the beginning of the countdown for the next summer parliamentary elections. Neither the BJP nor the Congress can afford to concede defeat and here the JD (S) becomes the significant doosra. A third party presence in elections tilts the balance and Modi stirred the political cauldron to serve a subtle message, opt for the JD (S) where the Congress challenge is formidable. In the case of a hung House, the JD (S) holds the trump card. Despite Gowda’s protestations, the “secular” party in 2006 worked with the BJP and then supported the Congress in civic bodies, a move he now regrets. Yet, at this stage, the JD (S) can ill afford to prove the Congress charge of being a secondary team of the BJP.

The Congress continues to be the principal adversary for both the BJP and JD (S). The latter has a strong hold in the southern parts of the state where the Vokkalinga community, to which Gowda belongs, is strong. The Lingayat community in northern and central parts of Karnataka backed the BJP. With Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, once Deve Gowda’s protégé, giving back as strongly as he gets and gnawing away at his former mentor’s political space, the fight is  getting increasingly bitter and personalised. It should not be. Leaders across the political spectrum should rise above partisan and personalised sparring, whether from real or digital platforms, and instead focus on larger issues that are more worthy of attention.