Advantage Congress as two prominent Lingayat leaders join the party

Ruling BJP, which stood strong on the Veerashaiva-Lingayat support in Karnataka for nearly two decades now, suddenly finds itself in the soup ahead of the crucial Assembly elections, with the exit of its prominent Lingayat leaders from North Karnataka.

On a major jolt to the saffron party, two prominent Lingayat leaders - Laxman Savadi and Jagadish Shettar - quit the party within a week's time. While Shettar comes from the politically powerful Banajiga Lingayat sub-sect, Savadi belongs to Ganiga Lingayat sub-sect.

This development comes against the backdrop of a massive protest by the largest sub-sect of Lingayats, the Panchamasalis, who have been seeking reservation under the 2A category in the State.

Will the desertions hurt BJP?

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai claimed that the exit of Laxman Savadi and Jagadish Shettar exit will have a minimal effect and asserted that no one can stop the growth of the party.

Political pundits say, the exit of the two BJP heavyweight and Lingay leaders will certainly have a significant impact on the BJP prospects in the upcoming elections. They believe that Shettar's exit will have ramifications in at least 15 seats while Savadi's exit can determine the electoral outcome in Belagavi and Kittur Karnataka region. It lies at the heart of the Karnataka-Maharashtra region.

It's 'advantage Congress' in Karnataka

The Congress views this as the best-ever chance to woo the Lingayat community, which once backed the grand old party. It is believed that the Lingayats shifted their loyalty to BJP after Veerendra Patil was unceremoniously removed as Chief Minister in 1990. The decision was made by then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi at the Bengaluru airport.

In a bid to consolidate on Lingayats, the party is giving more tickets to Lingayat leaders in this election compared to the last elections. In 2018, the party had fielded 43 Lingayat candidates in the elections and the number could exceed 50 this time.

The Lingayat community forms around 17 per cent of the State's voting population and has the capacity to make or break a government. The threat of losing Lingayat's vote bank is creating trouble for the BJP, something that Congress has tried to take an advantage of.

Not only has the exits jolted the party, but it has also given a boost to the narrative of Brahmin dominance over the Lingayats community in the BJP. Congress MLA M.B. Patil, the Lingayat face in Congress, said that Shettar's exit is a clear message to the community that they are limited them to only a vote bank. "Suresh Kumar, a Brahmin, gets a ticket while Jagadish Shettar, a Lingayat, is denied ticket," Patil tweeted.

As the Karnataka elections draw close, one has to wait and watch whether the Lingayats shift their loyalty to Congress or stay put with the BJP this time.