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Karnataka Assembly elections have entered the final lap. The southern state has six regions and the elections in each region are also unique. As part of our special series, News18 reporters travelled to each of the six regions to gauge the pulse of the electorate and give a 360-degree view of which way the political wind is blowing.
Like the expansive ramparts of the Gulbarga Fort, the issues pertaining to the Kalyana Karnataka region (erstwhile Hyderabad-Karnataka) are rusty and deep-rooted.
Neglect is the first word that comes to one’s mind while taking a closer look at the 14th Century fort, once an architectural marvel of the Bahmani dynasty. Just like the ruins, the people of this region too feel sidelined despite tall promises by political parties over decades. The absence of development and regional imbalances remain the core issues here.
The region is known as the Tur Dal belt of India, with a GI tag, and consists of seven districts — Kalaburagi, Yadgir, Bidar, Koppal, Raichur, Vijayanagar, and Ballari. Although the region enjoys special status through Article 371 J and has a separate Kalyana-Karnataka regional development board, a lack of political will has failed to eliminate the region’s backwardness.
News18 visited the Gulbarga University to speak to a group of PhD scholars to understand the issue through the eyes of young voters.
“We don’t have permanent faculty here. Research students like us double up as teachers,” said a student Varsha. “Whenever someone talks about development, they only focus on the Hubbali-Dharwad region. As a result, there are no jobs here. Like my siblings, I too have to move out very soon to earn a living. This is against my will,” said Anand, who is pursuing his PhD in journalism.
A majority of young voters that News18 spoke to feel jobs and lack of skill development have put them on the back burner.
“It has become almost impossible to get into a government job without paying bribes. The entire system needs to be changed,” said Mahadev, who aspires to be a college lecturer.
Shifting the conversation from the university campus to local streets, voters that News18 spoke to highlighted that regardless of whichever government comes to power, there is an urgent need to table a comprehensive industrial policy to develop large-scale industries to support local produce like lentils, major irrigation projects, educational hubs and business infrastructure. Locals also slammed the Kalayana Karnataka Regional Development Board for under utilising funds and leaving them high and dry.
CONGRESS BASTION & THE KHARGE FACTOR
Traditionally, this region has been the stronghold of the Congress. The party has won more than 50 per cent of the total 40 constituencies in the last two elections. The Congress believes that the elevation of Mallikarjun Kharge — arguably the tallest Dalit leader from this region — as the AICC president will reap political dividends.
“Today, all the development you see in Kalaburgi, whether it’s the ESI hospital or prominent educational institutions, is because of Kharge. He got us Article 371J special status,” said a voter who wished to remain anonymous.
The party also hopes to cash in on the numerically significant Lingayats and SC-left communities by promising more representation within the party ranks. Unlike the rest of the state where Lingayats are considered BJP’s bulwark, observers feel the same logic may not be applicable to the Kalyana-Karnataka region as Lingayats here are considered to be swing or floating voters.
This time around, Congress’s poll promises to this region include Rs 1 crore grant to every gram panchayat, filling up of 50,000 job vacancies and premier institutions like IITs and IIMs.
BJP VOWS TO GAIN LOST GROUND
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the party’s biggest election campaign in Kalaburagi, there is enthusiasm among party ‘karyakartas’ who are confident of making inroads into Kharge’s stronghold. The BJP’s optimism is bolstered by their recent success in the mayoral polls of the Kalaburagi municipality. However, it is important to note that the party still faces significant challenges in this endeavor.
In the 2018 elections, the BJP won 15 seats, a notable improvement from their meager tally of six seats in 2013. The party’s most successful performance in the region was in 2008, securing 19 seats. Although the BJP’s electoral performance has been inconsistent, they dealt a significant blow to the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when their candidate Umesh Jadhav defeated Mallikarjun Kharge by an impressive margin of nearly 96,000 votes.
This marked a significant electoral defeat for the 80-year-old veteran leader who had enjoyed a successful political career spanning several decades.
In addition to the “double-engine Sarkar” model, the BJP is relying on a range of strategies to enhance their electoral prospects. These include securing an increase in the special grant provided by the KKRDB from Rs 3,000 crore to Rs 5,000 crore, the establishment of mega textile parks, the construction of a new airport in Koppal, the development of industrial clusters, and the creation of tourist corridors.
Furthermore, the party is leveraging their recently reconfigured internal reservation system for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the hike in Lingayat reservations from the existing 5 per cent to 7 per cent. These measures aim to improve the BJP’s overall electoral performance by appealing to caste-based political calculations.
BATTLE FOR CHITTAPUR – WILL THE SON’RISE’ CONTINUE?
Dubbed as a prestige battle for the Kharges, Chittapur is going to witness a direct clash between the BJP and Congress. Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge is eyeing a hat-trick with development as his main pitch.
“Even the BJP will agree that as an MLA, I have developed the region well — roads, projects in minor and major irrigation, jobs, connectivity, and educational clusters. Every scheme launched by the government has been brought to the people in a transparent manner,” Priyank Kharge told News18, adding that the BJP has insulted the people of Chittapur by choosing a historysheeter like Manikanth Rathod as their candidate.
The BJP sprung a surprise by picking Rathod, a political novice with nearly 40 criminal cases to his name. It is seen as a big gamble but with Rathod, the party is trying to strike a balance between three factors — youth, Hindutva, and caste equation as Rathod hails from the prominent Lambani (Banjara) community.
But can the BJP win the Kharge citadel? Observers feel Priyank Kharge has an advantage as the BJP’s decision to cancel the prime minister’s rally in Chittapur has sent a negative message that the party perhaps doesn’t want to endorse a candidate with a criminal background.
So which way will Kalyana-Karnataka go? Can the Kharges hold onto their North Karnataka citadel, or will it be breached by the BJP? All eyes are now on May 13.
Read all the Latest Politics News and Karnataka Elections 2023 updates here
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