The lobbies that have controlled the Karnataka elections

Lobbies have always had a say in Karnataka politics. The scenario has however changed with caste being the most dominating factor in an election.

Karnataka has always been under the control of lobbies, which often influence the elections.

There was a time when these lobbies played a great role in shaping elections and all political parties have at one point in time been under the influence of these lobbies.

The influence has waned over the years, with caste becoming a deciding factor in Karnataka. It is often said that the party that manages to rope in the votes of the Lingayats and Vokkaligas go on to win the elections.

The lobbies that have been dominant in Karnataka are the liquor, mining, real estate and education lobbies. In Bengaluru, the lobby that is the most dominant is the real estate lobby. With the landscape full, the real estate lobby has moved towards rural Bengaluru and the elections in those areas are largely controlled by this lobby.

In the 2008 elections, it was the mining lobby of Ballari which was the most dominant. The likes of Janardan Reddy and his brothers, often referred to as the Reddy brothers controlled the elections. The lobby was so strong that it not only decided the elections, but also the formation of the Cabinet. It was the same lobby that brought down BJP's Shobha Karandlage briefly.

One of the most dominant lobbies that Karnataka has seen over the years is the liquor lobby. However this lobby witnessed a decline post 2003 following the formation of the Karnataka State Beverages Corporation Limited. The formation of this corporation plugged revenue leaks as a result of which the seconds sale came to a halt. With the revenue diminishing, the power of the liquor lobby too went down.

Another lobby that flourished briefly was the IT lobby. This lobby was strong between 1999 and 2004, when S M Krishna, then with the Congress was at the helm. While this lobby stayed away from the main electoral process, it restricted itself to having a say in policy matters.

The fall of the liquor lobby led to the rise of the education lobby. There are many leaders in Karnataka who owned educational institutions. With medical and engineering seats have a high demand, the money involved too was huge. These leaders went on to control the politics in the state for a considerable period of time.

When it comes to the real estate lobby, the dominance was felt in the southern part of the state. The stretch between Bengaluru and Mysuru was controlled by this lobby, thanks to the sky-rocketing prices of land. The lobby made inroads following the boom in real estate prices. The presence of this lobby was felt strongly post 2008 and member of this lobby took part in the electoral process.

This lobby this year around would have a large presence in areas such as Bengaluru Rural, Ramnagar, Kolar, Mysuru, Chikkaballapur and Mandya.

In conclusion one may say that the lobby that has been the most dominant and controversial in recent times has been the mining lobby. The lobby was controlled by the Reddys and Lads of Ballari. The lobby took almost all of the decisions right forgiving tickets, transfers and a say in the Cabinet formation. The mining lobby this year around is unlikely to have a say in the elections. The scenario changed largely since the Lokayukta probe, which led to the filing of cases by the Central Bureau of Investigation. These probes took the sheen out of the lobbies and since then they have remained backstage.