‘Kingmaker’ JD(S) goes all out to hold on to its Old Mysore realm

In 2018, when it formed a 14-month government led by H.D. Kumaraswamy in alliance with the Congress, the JD(S) had won 30 out of its 37 seats or about 79% of its total seats from the Old Mysore region.

Amid boisterous Congress moves and persistent efforts by the BJP to sink roots in the Old Mysore region of southern Karnataka, the Janata Dal(S) — a two-time “kingmaker” over the past two decades — will be fighting the Assembly election to retain its identity and relevance in State politics.

While the party assessed its 2018 performance as below par despite a perceived Vokkaliga consolidation against the then Congress Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, the JD(S) is going to the polls without any major undercurrents indicating a consolidation of the dominant land-owning community from which it draws strength. Neither has the party been able to widen its footprint beyond this region.

In 2018, when it formed a 14-month government led by H.D. Kumaraswamy in alliance with the Congress, the JD(S) won 30 of 37 its seats, or about 79% of its total seats, from the Old Mysore region. It won 50% of the seats in the 10 Vokkaliga-dominated districts (outside Bengaluru city). This was despite its total vote share coming down by about 2% from the 2013 election figure, which the party attributed to a Muslim consolidation in favour of the Congress after Rahul Gandhi called the JD(S) the “B team” of the BJP. The JD(S)’s best performance came in 2004, when it won 58 seats in 2004, forging an alliance first with the Congress and then with the BJP to form governments.

The political climate has changed since 2019. D.K. Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga with chief ministerial ambitions, has been appointed Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, and is perceived to be a threat against any consolidation of his community in favour of the JD(S).

The BJP is making serious inroads into the Old Mysore region. Though its multiple Vokkaliga outreach efforts have backfired in recent months, political observers believe that the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his promise of development has resonated with the Vokkaligas. Several more such visits are in the offing as the election draws closer. As a result, the traditional two-cornered fight between the JD(S) and the Congress in Vokkaliga-dominated districts can turn into triangular fights in some constituencies.

Riding on an anti-Siddaramaiah wave, the JD(S) blanked out its traditional rival, the Congress, in 2018, with resounding victories in Mandya and Hassan districts where it won 13 of the 14 seats.

However, it may not be able to repeat the feat this time. In Hassan, the party’s first family’s home district, the JD(S) supremo’s elder daughter-in-law took her demand for party ticket public. Though the conflict has been resolved, it embarrassed the party, which already carries the tag of being a “family party”.