![]() He even installed a giant statue of him outside the Bengaluru airport. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited the region multiple times, announced development projects and constantly invoked the valour of the 16th-century Vokkaliga chieftain Kempegowda. Over the past year, the BJP, a dominant force in northern Karnataka, has raked up Hindutva issues in the region. The real issue is that the BJP will gain in votes,” said the former government servant. “The entire story was cooked up, and they have also realised it. “Bidappa,” (just leave that) said Nyame Gowda of Srirangapatna when asked about the BJP narrative about Uri and Nanje Gowda killing Tipu Sultan. ![]() ![]() Six chief ministers of the state have hailed from the community, and 42 Vokkaliga MLAs were elected in the 2018 assembly elections, 23 from JD(S), 11 from Congress and eight from BJP. In the 2018 election, the JD(S) won 37 seats, and the community accounts for 11-14% of the state’s population. If the regional party gets more than 35 seats, the chances of Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) forming a government on their own reduces significantly. The fate of the JD(S) is crucial in Karnataka’s political landscape. ![]() However, such a shift in support, especially in the strongholds of the JD(S), is concerning for the party known to be the kingmakers of the state. Voices of the voters like Prakash and Gowda resonated across the constituency, but there were enough voices countering them. We were staunch JD(S) supporters, but we want someone who takes care of the work,” said Prakash. “There was some rain, so we got enough water, but the project, which was to irrigate the area, has not taken off. In Bindiganavile village, the headquarters of Nagamangala taluk, Guru Prakash, one of the JD(S) workers who shifted to the Congress, pointed at the lake near the main road. In this election, however, the mood in the villages isn’t as undivided. The party won the seat with a margin of over 47,000 votes and around 61% vote share. “If you want the chief minister to be to Vokkaliga, voting for the JD(S) is the only option,” he said, looking at the others for support.īut the response from his fellow tea lovers remained muted.Īthahalli comes under the Nagamangala constituency, one of the seven seats in the Mandya district swept by the JD(S) in the 2018 elections. Opposing his friend’s arguments with the animated hand gestures, he says that once ‘Dodda Gowda’ (HD Deve Gowda) comes to the village, all the differences will be forgotten. “Didn’t he (Kumaraswamy) take away projects he announced just to get back at us,” argued Umesh Gowda, a driver.ĥ3-year-old Ramesh NK, a LIC agent, gets up from the rock he was sitting on. While Congress supporters questioned the Janata Dal (Secular) party’s attitude towards the villages after HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2019, JD(S) loyalists argued that supporting their party was the only way to ensure a Vokkaliga chief minister. Amid heated political discussions over multiple cups of tea in the small village of Athahalli in Mandya, a diverse range of voices reflected the political divide in the region.
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