There is a school exam at the Government Pre-University College for Girls in Udupi. Many anxious parents are waiting for their daughters near the spot where the hijab row started in Karnataka in 2022 and flared up in other parts of the state. The BJP’s candidate from Udupi, Yashpal Suvarna, is the vice-president of the development committee of the college and an influential person in an area where his party leaders maintain Hindutva is a key plank in the Karnataka election.
Karnataka’s social welfare minister Kota Srinivas Poojari told HT on Wednesday, “Hindutva is an agenda. It is not a negative issue. It is a part of Indian culture.” Some 53km away, the BJP’s sitting MLA and Mangalore (South) candidate D Vedavyas Kamath echoed Poojari. “As a political party, we should go according to our party’s vision. We will fulfil our Hindutva agenda. At the same time, we are projecting development in Karnataka.”
Poojari dropped in at the Udupi Press Club to give bytes to local TV channels. With the help of a translator, the minister said BS Yediyurappa’s return to the party was another reason why the BJP will retain power. “The BJP is working for everyone. In 2013 the party was divided. KJP (Yediyurappa’s splinter group) was formed. But in 2018, everyone has returned.”
Barely 30 metres away from the club, the Congress office wears a busy look. A flying squad of the Election Commission has asked them to remove the three mega banners from the road but it hasn’t deterred the workers’ mood.
“We are worried about other things. The young voters, especially those who are between 18 to 24, get heavily influenced by this Hindutva issue. We have a candidate who is resourceful but has a clean image. This is a fight between Hindutva and corruption of the Bommai government,” said a Congress worker who didn’t want to be named. The Congress candidate, Prasad Raj Kanchan, is from Mogaveera or the fisherman community, just like Suvarna. “The government has completely failed on administration. Wherever we go, voters talk about hike in cooking gas and petrol prices. We are telling the voters, ‘Are you aware that the Bommai government is eating 40% commission?’ People are talking about the commission. People in this constituency are educated,” said Kanchan.
He accuses the BJP of “trying to play the communal card”. “But we are going to counter them on the 40% commission charges and the hike in the price of fuel and cooking gas,” Kanchan adds.
Ajita K, a college teacher, thinks the election in Karavali or Karnataka’s coastal region will be a test for the BJP in the state. “There is definitely a Modi wave among the young voters. Hindutva, cow slaughter, terrorism, hijab are being discussed. The Bajrang Dal is very active in this area.”
The Billava, Mogaveera and Shetty are the major communities in the Karavali region. “The BJP has a strong support base among the Shetty and Billava voters. The Congress banks on the OBC, SC, ST, Christians and Muslims,” said another Congress worker.
Sitting in his office in south Mangalore’s Kodialbel, Vedavyas Kamath explains at length what is Hindutva and how the media and his political opponents misinterpret Hindutva. “We love our nation, we love our land. We work for everyone. But when someone attacks us like the bomb blast (on November 20, 2022), we have to defend ourselves.”
Kamath refers to the Ayodhya temple and claims there is no proof in the Congress’s allegations on the Bommai government’s corruption.
On the wall above hangs a photo of Kamath meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP’s chances will depend a lot on the PM’s presence in Mangalore—where he comes every election—and elsewhere in the state. Source: HT