Shobha Karandalaje’s breakout moment in BJP’s election management committee headship Premium

The dual charge has underscored that Ms. Karandalaje has made the decisive shift in having her own equations with the national leadership in New Delhi.

Union Minister Shobha Karandalaje has broken away from the pack of Karnataka BJP leaders in a post-Yediyurappa scenario, a fact made clear by the announcement that she will be heading the BJP’s election management committee for Karnataka polls and as also a member of the campaign committee.

The election management committee is key in terms of candidate selection and poll strategy, its leadership is a position of trust with regard to the BJP high command. Apart from signalling that the BJP wants to right-size its equations with the Vokkaliga community (to which Ms. Karandalaje belongs and is the other dominant community in Karnataka after Lingayats), it has also triggered speculation that she may get a more important leadership role in the State unit of the BJP post poll.

The dual charge has underscored that Ms. Karandalaje, 56, often identified only as a close supporter of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, has made the decisive shift in having her own equations with the national leadership in New Delhi.

Sources in the BJP told The Hindu, that the two-term MP from Udupi-Chikmagalur has forged her own equations in New Delhi as was first apparent when she was made a Minister of State in the second Narendra Modi government, a move that had very little to do with Mr. Yediyurappa. “Her appointment as head of the election management committee, and as a member of the campaign committee is first of all an acknowledgment that despite all-out efforts to woo the Lingayat community, who may have been miffed at Yediyurappa’s sacking as Chief Minister in 2021, the party is keen to balance matters with the Vokkaliga community as well,” said a senior office bearer of the party.

“We are paying the price as any party whose support base is limited to a big dominant community, we need to broad-base, especially with Yediyurappa retiring after these Assembly polls,” added the source.

Ms. Karandalaje, sources said, is a good organizer and is popular with party workers, something that slowly came to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. “The prism of viewing her from a factional politics point of view was slowly replaced, the high command saw that unlike other leaders, she was not shy about hitting the streets with the karyakartas on party work. We (BJP) have few good Vokkaliga leaders and she fits the bill,” said the source.

While Ms. Karandalaje belongs to south coastal Karnataka and not the Vokkaliga belt of Old Mysore (south Karnataka), the BJP is confident that she will be able to mobilise party workers.