Bengaluru: Ever since the Congress announced last week that it would “ban” the Bajrang Dal if voted to power in Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been criticizing the Congress for allegedly insulting Lord Hanuman. Congress in its manifesto did alleged that organizations like the Bajrang Dal “promote enmity” between communities and promised decisive action if voted to power in the May 10 elections.
However, voters in Karnataka appear to be more concerned with issues such as job opportunities, inflation and access to bank credit rather than political tussles.
ThePrint traveled across Bengaluru to find out whether this new twist in the BJP’s campaign has changed the mood on the ground.
Barely 500 meters from the Karnataka BJP headquarters in Malleswaram – the constituency of state minister and party MLA CN Ashwath Narayan – is the Sri Gangamma Devi temple.
a 70-year-old woman who was selling Offering Outside the temple for the past 23 years, he told ThePrint that he had not heard of the Bajrang Dal or the BJP’s attack on the Congress over the promise of a ‘ban’. “Our life has become difficult because of the hike in prices every month,” he said. “There’s no bar on that.” He did not feel like voting for BJP.
Sitting nearby are two devotees, Kumar and Prashant – both BJP supporters, but not bothered about the Bajrang Dal issue. According to him, it is the popularity of the PM that will fetch the party votes.
Kumar said, “Bajrang Dal is not an issue… no one can ban it and no one will vote for the BJP because of it.” “This is the work of Modi… He has helped people during Covid by providing vaccines and saving lives.”
Suresh, who worked at the temple, said it was late Congress leader BK Hariprasad, who helped build several temples in the state. He said, “Modi has done nothing… The image of the Congress as an anti-Hindu party has been tarnished, but this is not true.”
A few kilometers away at Basavanagudi is the 15th-century Nandi temple. At the entrance of the temple, Girija, who has been selling Ganesha idols for the last 13 years, said PM Modi is like a “god” to her. However, he had one request. “No bank gives loans to poor people like me… (the prime minister) should allow services like Aadhaar card registration or opening of Jan Dhan accounts,” he told ThePrint.
Both Malleswaram and Basavanagudi are BJP strongholds.
Bengaluru has become a battle of prestige for the BJP battling anti-incumbency in the state. Facing severe backlash due to civic issues like floods, traffic woes and depleting lakes during monsoon, the party is hoping that PM Modi’s charisma will help in the capital city.
Even in urban parts of Bengaluru, Modi’s popularity outweighs that of the Bajrang Dal, even as the BJP tries to consolidate its core Hindutva vote bank to derail the Congress’ campaign in the state. To be sure, senior Congress leaders like state unit chief DK Shivakumar and former CM Siddaramaiah, who have been attacking the BJP government on local issues, started visiting temples even as the controversy escalated.
shivkumar Even said that the party would oversee the development of Hanuman temples across the state. He has visited the Anjanadri hill which is one of the places which is believed to be the birthplace of the deity.
Speaking to ThePrint at the BJP Bengaluru office, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said his party did not raise the issue. It was the Congress that promised a “ban”. “We are only exposing (him) to the public,” he said.
Speaking to ThePrint, SY Surendra, professor of political science at Bangalore University, told ThePrint, “The Bajrang Dal issue is not a game changer. It will not have a major impact on the election results, but to some extent it will neutralize the anti-incumbency wave.
“It may also help in breaking the backward caste consolidation in favor of Congress… Since Modi is using his personality and his work as the main narrative, no one can talk about (CM Basavaraj) Bommai’s track record is not talking. It is a clever move, in which the Congress is forced to react only to the BJP’s narrative.”
According to Congress-Karnataka working president Ramalinga Reddy, this is a diversionary strategy by the BJP. “They do not want to face elections with their track record of governance. So they are diverting attention from the real issue of corruption and (lack of) it.
Congress spokesperson Prof. Gaurav Vallabh said, ‘We worship Bajrang Bali every day. Bajrang Bali destroyed Lanka and now on May 13 (day of counting of votes) BJP’s corruption will destroy Lanka.
Bajrang Dal controversy
Bajrang Dal – which takes its name from Bajrang Bali, or Lord Hanuman – is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and a constituent of the Sangh. The Congress in its manifesto compared Bajrang Dal to the banned Islamic organization Popular Front of India (PFI).
After this Bajrang Dal allegedly buried Rs 100 crore defamation charge against Congress Meanwhile, campaigning in the poll-bound state this weekend, PM Narendra Modi kept the focus on the deity during his roadshow.
Both coastal and northern Karnataka are BJP strongholds, but the latter’s votes are based on caste, as voting trends over the years have shown. But the Bajrang Dal has a strong presence in coastal Karnataka.
Soon after the controversy escalated, the BJP organized Hanuman Chalisa recitals across the state. But the promised ‘ban’ and BJP’s attempt to milk the issue may not bring the desired results in other parts of the state.
At a local ice cream parlor in Jayanagar, Mithun, a civil services aspirant and from the Lingayat community, told ThePrint that his focus is on employment opportunities.
“Every government promises employment but in reality it does not happen. Jobs are getting reduced every year,” he said. “I will vote on the leadership… If Yeddyurappa was the chief minister, the BJP would have easily got a majority… Now it looks uncertain.”
In Jayanagar, which is a Congress bastion and a part of the Bengaluru South constituency, the BJP has fielded CK Ramamurthy in the hope of snatching the seat from Congress MLA Sowmya Reddy.
There is a famous Hanuman temple on the Bangalore-Mysore road – Gali Anjaneya Temple. Composed in the 15th century, it highlights how a civil issue can easily turn into a political one. Locals shared how the temple complex gets waterlogged at times during the monsoons. He said the devotees have taken up the issue with the civic authorities, but to no avail.
Akhilesh, who had recently bought a car, was on his way to the temple to worship and seek the blessings of the Goddess for his purchase. “The Congress should not have done this…” he said, adding that the organization and Lord Hanuman should not be linked. However, he said that his vote would go to Modi, “because he is doing good work”.
change in strategy
As the Congress announced its promise to rein in the Bajrang Dal if voted to power, the BJP made a rapid inroads. It changed its campaign to attack the Congress for insulting Bajrang Bali. At many of his rallies, PM Modi has invoked the deity to attack his rivals, even asking the public to chant ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’ while holding up their respective cell phones with torches Is.
At a rally, he said, “Please cast your vote and don’t forget to chant ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’ when you exercise your right to vote.”
Addressing a BJP rally in Karnataka’s Vijayanagar district last Tuesday, PM Modi alleged, “Congress had earlier banned Lord Ram, now it wants to ban those who chant ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’.” Is.’
The next day, to further motivate the party workers, he chanted ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’ at all the three public meetings across Karnataka along with the call of ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.
This weekend, at the PM’s road shows both on Saturday and Sunday, loudspeakers rang out slogans of ‘Bajrang Bali ki Jai’ while cutouts of the god dominated the background.
Many BJP leaders and supporters came dressed as Lord Hanuman or wearing the mask of the deity to register their protest against the Congress. Many such masks were also distributed along the way.
The BJP is looking to consolidate its position in urban Bengaluru, which has 28 seats and the party itself is on thin ice on civic issues. In 2018, it won just 11 seats and needs to win decisively to get a majority. In coastal Karnataka and Kodagu, the party won 18 out of 21 seats in the last elections, but repeating that performance may be difficult.
A local BJP leader told ThePrint that raising the Bajrang Dal issue could help divert attention from local civic issues, adding that bringing the PM for a roadshow was a well-planned strategy to energize voters.
“Knowing that Bengaluru has a history of low voter turnout on polling days, this type of Hindutva campaign, along with the PM’s roadshow, will be a game changer for the party in the final stages of the campaign,” he added.
The emphasis of Hindutva in the coastal region
A senior BJP leader involved in campaign management told ThePrint, “The election is all about narrative and strategy. Initially, we were replying to the Congress on the allegations of corruption.”
“Now that they have given us an issue, we focused on Bajrang Bali as the deity has a large number of temples in the state. We know that this issue will not attract us in the entire state but will energize our cadre especially in the coastal region.
“Once the PM asks the public to chant ‘Bajrang Bali ki Jai’, the message goes to other districts as well. The Congress abandoned its own strategy and got all defensive while replying to us,” he said.
Another BJP leader told ThePrint, “Our feedback (from grassroots workers) was that we were losing many seats in coastal Karnataka, but since the Bajrang Bali issue, we are back in the game and have won many seats. The anti-wave has been reduced to some extent. coastal strip.”
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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