Shah's visit to Mandya has more than meets the eye

Bengaluru: The visit of Home Minister Amit Shah to Mandya, the heartland of Vokkaliga politics on Thursday has sounded an alarm of sorts in the hearts of the Vokkaliga leaders in Mandya, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar and Ramanagar which are all parts of the old Mysuru region. Call it the soft launch of BJP's poaching campaign or real-time electioneering, Amit Shah's visit has sent tremors of fear mainly in the JDS party. The Pancharathna campaign devised by its leader HD Kumaraswamy is barely over, Shah's visit to Mandya will wipe out the effects of the Pancharathna yatra as hoped by the BJP cadres in old Mysuru.

But Shah's visit is more focussed on more serious matters like poaching the present MLAs of the JDS party even before the list is announced by that party. Shah was also aiming at 45 seats in the old Mysuru area from JDS and Congress. Shah's visit in May 2022 sent a clear message to the BJP leadership in the state that he was not happy with the way the BJP had to resort to operation Kamala after the elections. He and JP Nadda in a back-to-back visit to the state had even indicated to the leadership 'either we have 150 seats in Karnataka through a normal democratic process or be prepared to sit in the opposition'.

His Thursday visit will eye six seats in Mysuru, five in Mandya four in Ramanagara, he has already directed the Vokkaliga and Ediga leaders in this region to influence leaders and voters with the ideology BJP on several platforms. R Ashok, Dr. Ashwathnarayan and the second-line Vokkaligas are to take command along with the Ediga leaders in the region.

Shah spared no words to chide his party leaders in the core committee. He indicated through his comments that there was an opportunity for the BJP to become unchallenged in the state legislative bodies. The magic figure of arriving at 150 seats in the state assembly for the party is there for the party for the asking. But before that few grey areas in the hinterland of the coast, Malnad and the old Mysuru region where over 45 potential seats have not been galvanised into BJP seats in the election in 2018. He is definitely eyeing these seats to be converted in favour of his party.

Political pundits in Karnataka indicate that Shah was fed up with last-minute adjustments where MLAs must be poached to save the government. Karnataka is the last state in the south where BJP can hold power- Tamil Nadu and Kerala being a far cry for the party in the present context. He was not comfortable with such adjustments as it does not augur well with the party's ideology basically -majoritarianism.

The core committee members who attended the meeting believed that Shah will not tolerate the 'politics of adjustments', especially when India has risen in the world as one of the leading geopolitical power under Modi.

This factor has to be taken to the voters and 'transforming' right-thinking minds in other parties was the clear message.