Karnataka Elections 2023: Can BJP's Ashoka breach Shivakumar's fortress Kanakapura?

Karnataka Revenue Minister and senior BJP leader, R Ashoka is facing the toughest political battle of his illustrious four-decade-long political career. The BJP high command has pitted him against Karnataka Congress Chief D.K. Shivakumar from the Kanakapura assembly seat.

Photo Credit: DK Shivakumar and R Ashoka

Ashok has pitched himself as the messenger of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is striving to get good governance to the Kanakapura assembly seat by ending the political control of the Congress and Shivakumar.

Shivakumar, known as 'Kanakapura bande' or rock of Kanakapura is seeking re-election for the fourth time here.

DK Shivakumar has been representing the Kanakapura assembly seat since 2008. He had won four consecutive elections from the Sathanur assembly seat till he shifted to Kanakapura.

In the previous elections, Shivakumar polled 1,27,552 votes, defeating JDS candidate Narayana Gowda by 79,909 votes. Shivakumar defeated JDS candidate P G R Sindhia in 2013 polls by a margin of 31,424 votes, and in 2008 won against JDS D M Vishwanath by 7,179 votes.

Kanakapura, the Vokkaliga bastion is one of the constituencies where the BJP had token presence so far. However, the 2018 polls is said to be BJP's best ever performance in Kanakapura seat. BJP candidate Nandini Gowda polled 6,273 votes and the vote share was about 3.37 per cent. In 2013, the BJP had secured just 1,807 votes.

Shivakumar was defeated by JDS patriarch and former prime minister Deve Gowda from Sathanur in 1985. The Kanakapura constituency was a stronghold of JDS, until DK Shivakumar's entry into the segment in 2008, when the delimitation process took place.

In a high-stakes battle, Janata Parivar veteran Ramakrishna Hegde had contested a byelection from this constituency, when he became the Chief Minister in 1983.

Shivakumar is a Chief Ministerial hopeful in the event of Congress coming to power. His supporters believe that the seven-time MLA will win with a margin of over a lakh votes and will become the Chief Minister this time.

The BJP has fielded a formidable candidate against Shivakumar to end his dominance in the seat, often referred to as the "Republic of Kanakapura" by his critics, accusing him of having a stranglehold on the seat without leaving space for the opposition.

Political pundits say, for the first time, there is a sense of worry among D.K Shivakumar's camp with BJP's surprise move of fielding Ashoka, the vokkaliga face of BJP. His younger son Ajay Ashoka has been tasked to manage and coordinate the campaign in Kanakapura.

While the Kanatapura contest looks smooth sailing for D.K Shivakumar, the BJP hopes to make some inroads and increase its voter base from the seat.

The Kanakapura constituency has over 80,000 Vokkaligas, making caste a big factor in Ashoka's candidature. The Nagaraju, Vokkaliga leader is also in the fray.

The BJP strongman Ashoka is also seeking re-election from Padmanabhanagara in Bengaluru, for the fourth time here.