In BJP’s Karnataka Lok Sabha Poll Prep, Big Changes Likely: Sources

The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to field a host of new faces in Karnataka for the April/May Lok Sabha election, party sources told NDTV Friday, indicating new candidates could be offered to voters in as many as 11 of the 25 seats the party currently holds.

Sources said the decision was taken after several sitting MPs expressed a desire to not contest this election. It is, however, also being seen as an attempt to ward off possible anti-incumbency, particularly in a state the party has performed well in over the past two general elections; in 2014 the BJP won 17 seats (the Congress got nine) and, in 2019, it went eight better and cornered over 51 per cent of the total votes.

Among the BJP leaders not contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha election is former Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda; the 70-year-old Bengaluru (North) MP in November said he was quitting politics.

GM Siddeswara, a four-time MP from the Davangere seat and ex-union minister, and Ramesh Jigajinagi, a six-time MP (three from Bijapur and three from Chikkodi, are also not up for re-election, sources said.

Bachhe Gowda (Chikballapur), GS Basavaraj (Tumkur), V Srinivasa Prasad (Chamarajanagar), and Y Devendrappa (Balar) may also not contest. Of all of them, the first three are over 70 years old, while Gowde is 81 years old, Basavaraj is 82, Srinivasa Prasad is 76, and Devendrappa is 72. 

Anant Hegde, a four-time winner from Uttara Kannada, cited ill health in his request, and Shivkumar Udassi, who won the Haveri seat thrice, is also out. Both are younger; Udassi is 56 and Hegde 55.

Broadly speaking the changes are in line with the BJP’s (unwritten) rule – younger is better and three-time winners or above should give way to someone else (to avoid anti-incumbency).

That rule, though, has been set aside now and then, including in 2019, when BS Yediyurappa became Karnataka Chief Minister when he was 76.

Thus there may, of course, be exceptions to this rule as the party preps for its ‘mission 2024’.

BJP In Karnataka

The BJP was thumped in last year’s Karnataka Assembly election, with a Congress inspired by poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu coming up trumps.

READ | Ahead Of Lok Sabha Polls, Congress Loses 2nd Strategist After Prashant Kishor

Mr Kanugolu may not be directing the Congress’ Lok Sabha election masterplan, but the BJP will want to take no chances of a second consecutive defeat in the southern state.

To that end, the party has announced an alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) of former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy but, as with any political alliance, specially one cobbled together between unequal members months before a critical election, seat-sharing is likely to be a problematic issue.

Sources have said the JDS may get four seats as part of the deal, including the Hassan constituency won by Prajwal Revanna in 2019. The JDS wants Hassan, Bengaluru (Rural), and Mandya, the BJP wants to give Hassan, Bengaluru (Rural), and Mandya.

READ | BJP, JDS Ally In Karnataka Ahead Of Big 2024 Polls. NDTV Explains

So far, so good… but then there is a gap, with the smaller party also wanting Tumkur, Chikballapur, and Bengaluru (rural), and the BJP offering only Kolar as an additional seat.

Giving the JDS these seats may make sense for the BJP, not only because the former still has influence in these areas, which fall in the Old Mysuru region, but also because of its sway over Vokkalinga voters, who were seen as a BJP bank till the Congress made successful inroads as part of its win last year.

BJP’s ‘Mission 400’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, bidding for an unprecedented third term in the post, has targeted 400 seats in this Lok Sabha election, up from the 303 it won in 2019 and 282 from five years before that.

READ | Aiming For 400 Seats, BJP Eyes Recruiting Rival MPs: Sources

A meeting was led by party chief JP Nadda this week, in which strategies were discussed, including recruiting influential leaders from rival parties, an avenue that will likely see the opposition up-in-arms.

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