On the eve of the Lok Sabha elections, the question uppermost on the minds of many a Mysorean is: Why did the top leadership of the BJP replace a ‘performing’ MP like Pratap Simha with an untested royal dynast like Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wodiyar as a candidate from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency when it has placed a premium on winning every possible seat from southern India?
Over the last two terms as MP, considering that Pratap Simha (37) had played a proactive role in completing many a dormant project to help the people of his constituency and was also extremely vocal in giving effective counter-punches to the ruling Congress in the state, the general impression was that this journalist-turned-politician would sail through the selection to contest for a third term.
But, the internal dynamics in the BJP appear to have changed after it suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2023 Assembly polls at the hands of the Siddaramaiah-led Congress party. The party’s leadership is taking watchful steps to somehow retain its tally of 25 out of 28 seats it won in the last Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
Return of Yediyurappa
Recognising the folly of removing former chief minister BS Yediyurappa as chief minister in the middle of his term, which cost the Lingayats’ votes, not only has he been brought back to centre stage, but his son BY Vijayendra has been anointed as state president as per Yediyurappa’s wishes.
Additionally, the BJP took a crucial and well-calculated decision to align with the Janata Dal (S) – sacrificing some seats it had won in 2019 – to wean away the second most influential community of Vokkaligas from the Congress.
When the central election committee met, the party as usual had multiple reports from the ground level on the performance and winning chances of each candidate, apart from political inputs from the state leaders. At least five MPs had opted out of election fray due to old age or because of the hints given to them to retire, but overall, as many as 16 sitting MPs were replaced, possibly the largest overhaul undertaken in any election in Karnataka.
While the task of dousing the rebellion was left to Yediyurappa and Vijayendra, which they did in most places with varied degrees of success, many seniors in the party were left unhappy due to what they alleged as the “high-handed operations” of the father-son duo.
Party veteran KS Eshwarappa’s plea for a ticket for his son KE Kantesh to contest from Haveri was ignored and Haveri was handed out to former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is already an MLA. Accusing Yediyurappa of playing a ‘partisan role’ a bitterly critical Eshwarappa has filed his nomination papers as an independent against Yediyurappa’s son, BY Raghavendra at Shivamogga.
Shettar, Ravi as targets
Former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who did a flip-flop jumping from BJP to Congress and back to BJP, was keen on contesting from either Haveri or Hubballi-Dharwad, his hometown, but he has been moved to Belgaum where a campaign was launched against him as an ‘outsider’ though it did die down later.
When senior leader CT Ravi, who was keen on contesting from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru (U-C) constituency, was denied ticket, Yediyurappa’s hand was seen in it as Ravi had turned a ‘tormentor’ when Yediyurappa was chief minister. On the other hand, Yediyurappa was accused of turning ‘benevolent’ to Shobha Karandlaje who, facing trouble in the U-C, successfully changed her seat to Bengaluru North, for which former Jayadeva director Dr CN Manjunath was an aspirant.
Among all the changes that were effected, the unexpected replacement of Pratap Simha with Yaduveer Wadiyar caused the maximum flutter as it appeared to go against the general policy of rewarding merit and performance in a high-voltage election where the prime minister has set his eyes on “chaar sow paar” by decimating the opposition.
Vikram Muthanna, the managing editor of Mysuru city’s two highly respected dailies, ‘Star of Mysore’ and ‘Mysuru Mitra’ articulated the frustration among the voters. Says he: “There is only so much a PM can do for a city; ultimately our local MP has to do the work. Mysuru needs an MP who works, not a celebrity or a dynast. We have had those in the past who hardly worked, until Pratap Simha showed in the last ten years what an MP can do… Simha would have won comfortably, but replacing him without offering any reason is BJP’s self-inflicted wound which hurts the citizens as well.
Simha, a performing MP
Within months of becoming an MP, Simha is given credit for effectively coordinating with the railways in successfully moving the centuries-old heritage structure, ‘Tipu’s armoury’ at Srirangapatna to a nearby site to facilitate track-doubling between Mysuru and Bangaluru. It has led to a huge expansion in train services between two cities, resulting in a train every 20 minutes. He was also instrumental in giving momentum to the expressway between Bengaluru and Mysuru, which has cut down travelling time from nearly four hours to 110 minutes, and the dormant airport at Mysuru has also benefited with regular flights to neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Goa. He has brought to his constituents drinking water and gas pipeline projects besides two passport Kendras, where there was none before.
There were muted protests and a signature campaign in favour of Pratap Simha when he was denied the party ticket. A section of partymen blamed it on Yediyurappa, alleging that he pushed the candidature of the royal dynast, saying that Yaduveer contesting on Mysuru ticket would have a ‘cascading effect’ on some of the neighbouring constituencies as the royal family, which ruled for over 250 years before independence, still carried nostalgic memories for the people. But, the ‘hush-hush talk’ inside the party circles is that Yediyurappa and family wanted to apply a break to Pratap Simha’s ‘political growth’ and Yaduveer’s ambition to enter politics came in handy for them to sideline Simha.
Whatever the reason, the US-educated, down-to-earth Yaduveer (32) has taken his plunge into politics seriously. Yaduveer has the right lineage as he is the great-grandson of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wodiyar, the last ruler of Mysore. He was adopted by Promoda Devi Wadiyar, the wife of his great-uncle Srikantadatta Wadiyar, 14 months after the latter’s demise. He was installed as the notional ‘Maharaja of Mysore’ in a private ceremony in 2015.
Warm greetings to Yaduveer
When Yeduveer did his road-show in Nazrabad area of Mysuru city on April 17, he had a warm reception as he shook hands with people and spoke fluently in Kannada, asking the people to vote for him ‘to carry out Modi’s vision’ in his constituency and also fully utilise the tourism potential of both Mysuru and Kodagu in a sustainable fashion. Answering criticism that people would have limited accessibility to his palace, he maintained that he would open his MP’s offices outside the palace to address and redress people’s grievances. “Didn’t my ancestors who lived in the palace earn the hearts of the people by doing so much public good and building so many institutions?,” he queried.
His great-uncle Srikantadatta had contested six times to become a Member of Parliament from Mysore. He won four times on behalf of the Congress and lost twice on BJP and Congress tickets. Entering politics at the tender age of 32, Yaduveer too could be looking at a long innings in the political arena.
Congress has put up K Lakshman, a former principal of an engineering college, who is considered close to Siddaramaiah. Many people are surprised that the chief minister chose Lakshman for this prestigious seat as his track record is not too great. He had contested as an independent for Chamaraja Assembly seat in 2008 and secured less than 2,000 votes. Subsequently, he had failed in his three attempts to enter the legislative council, but became a spokesman for the Congress after Siddaramaiah returned to power last year.
Siddaramaiah spent over a week campaigning for Lakshman as winning Mysuru and Chamarajanagar seats is crucial for him to demonstrate his strength in his fight with DK Shivakumar for retaining the chief ministership after the Lok Sabha polls. Conversely, Shivakumar’s performance in the Old Mysuru region will also be keenly watched.
(Views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author)
Source Agencies
