When the 108-foot statue of Kempegowda — thought-about to be the founding father of Bengaluru — is inaugurated on November 11, it should enter the historical past books because the tallest bronze statue in Karnataka. Arising on a 23-acre heritage park close to Kempegowda Worldwide Airport in Devanahalli, the ruling BJP hopes the Rs 85-crore statue will probably be a vote-catcher, come elections subsequent yr.
The mammoth statue is being interpreted as an try by the BJP to woo the Vokkaligas — a majority group in south Karnataka who’ve historically favoured the Congress and JD(S), however are reportedly warming as much as the saffron occasion of late.
The BJP’s try at turning the inauguration right into a political ceremony appears to be like to be succeeding, with the JD(S) already calling out the try at politicisation. Days earlier than PM Modi inaugurates the statue, a ‘holy mud’ marketing campaign was taken out by the BJP, to gather soil from over 22,000 areas throughout the state. The soil thus collected was symbolically blended with the soil below one of many 4 towers of the pedestal on which the statue stands.
This occasion was spearheaded by Dr C.N. Ashwathnarayan, the state Minister for Greater Schooling, in addition to of Info Expertise and Biotechnology. A Vokkaliga, he’s among the many a number of BJP leaders making an attempt exhausting to emerge because the undisputed chief of the group within the Previous Mysuru area, and expects his pipe-dream to be realised with this enterprise.
Over time, BJP has not fared effectively in south Karnataka. Its makes an attempt to make inroads right here is not any secret, because the BJP has doubled down to achieve a foothold right here, with encouraging leads to the 2018 Meeting elections and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. For the occasion, which already dominates the coastal districts and the Lingayat-majority belts of north Karnataka, any good points within the Vokkaliga heartland will probably be a game-changer, even because it stares at an unsure future within the state after the previous CM B.S. Yediyurappa period.
Not one of the Vokkaliga leaders within the BJP have succeeded in projecting themselves because the distinguished chief inside the group. The likes of Income Minister R. Ashok — a Yediyurappa protégé, BJP basic secretary C.T. Ravi, Medical Schooling minister Okay. Sudhakar — who jumped ship to the BJP in 2019, and Ashwathnarayan, haven’t been in a position to set up themselves as ‘group leaders’, which is in distinction with opposition leaders just like the JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy and to some extent KPCC president D.Okay. Shivakumar.
Whereas Ashok is accused of getting an ‘understanding’ with the Deve Gowda household, Ashwathnarayan’s scuffle with the DK brothers (Shivakumar and Bangalore Rural MP D.Okay. Suresh) has not completed him any favours. Ravi and Sudhakar are attempting exhausting to develop past the confines of their very own constituencies, with the previous sustaining that Deve Gowda stays the highest chief of the group.
Other than makes an attempt at appropriating the Vokkaliga icon Kempegowda forward of the 2023 Meeting elections, the BJP has been for years making an attempt to cozy as much as the Adichunchanagiri mutt — which is among the most distinguished mutts of the group, if not its most important one. Repeated references that Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath and Swami Nirmalanandanatha are each members of the identical sect — Naath Panth, a Shaivaite group — are additionally analysed alongside political strains. There have been even speculations that Union House Minister Amit Shah had urged Nirmalanandanatha to contest the polls final yr, which didn’t materialise.
JD(S) chief Kumaraswamy has lashed out on the BJP for utilizing Kempegowda for political causes. “They consider that putting in a statue will assist them acquire votes of the Vokkaligas. They’re below an phantasm,” the previous CM stated, including that folks will present them the truth quickly.