JDS faces tough challenge in its own strongholds this time

Both the national parties are focussing on Vokkaliga community, especially in the Mandya region, this time. This has posed a major threat to JDS as Vokkaligas and the region have been loyal to it so far.

The upcoming Assembly elections is shaping up to be the toughest challenge Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) has ever faced in electoral politics, as both Congress and BJP are threatening to make huge dents in its Vokkaliga vote bank in the Old Mysuru region.

Anticipating a fractured mandate this time too, JDS kickstarted the Pancharatna Yatra, a campaign across the Old Mysuru region from Mulabagilu in Kolar district in the third week on November and a mega rally with an expected crowd of 10 lakh at Mysuru on March 26.

The party has already held 236 gatherings and covered 90 constituencies. Former Chief Minister and party leader H.D. Kumaraswamy has claimed that the Yatra will disturb the voter base of Congress in the Old Mysuru region. Historically the grand Old party has always done well in this region, but over the years, JDS has been a competitor owing to the huge Vokkaliga population in the region.

While the Yatra is drawing huge crowds, the BJP is leaving no stone unturned to win more seats in the region and Congress on the other hand is trying to woo back its Vokkaliga base. JDS has been able to keep its citadel intact largely due to the absence of BJP. But in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the JDS lost several of its pocket boroughs in the region.

Former Prime Minister and JDS patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda himself lost his Tumkur seat while his grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy Gowda lost from Mandya district. The only saving grace for the party was the victory of Prajwal Revanna, another of his grandsons, from Hassan seat.

In the bypolls held in December 2019, the saffron party managed to win KR Pet Assembly segment, its first victory in Mandya, while JDS lost in its once-strongholds of KR Pete, Chikkaballapura, Mahalakshmi Layout, Hunsur, Sira and RR Nagar.

In the 2018 elections, BJP managed to win the Hassan seat, the JDS bastion dominated by Vokkaligas who constitute 15 percent of the State's population. JDS won 28 of 59 seats in the region. However, in the upcoming elections, the saffron party is eyeing a quantum jump in its tally pinning its hopes on winning over a chunk of Vokkaliga votes in the Old Mysore region to storm back to power.

The oldest surviving regional party is facing multiple challenges this time as the Congress has elevated Vokkaliga strongman D.K. Shivakumar as its State chief and the BJP is focusing on the Old Mysuru region. The party is also troubled by the mass exodus of sitting MLAs and senior leaders, while its 'family-centric' politics is another major challenge for the horizontal growth of the party.