The Muslim community claims to have played a key role in Congress’s rise to power in Karnataka.
UPDATE – Mon 5/22/23 5:35pm
The Muslim community claims to have played a key role in Congress’s rise to power in Karnataka.
Hyderabad: The politics of communal appeasement in neighboring Karnataka has put both the Congress party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a bind.
Although Siddaramaiah was sworn in as Chief Minister on Saturday and DK Shiva Kumar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister in Bengaluru on Saturday, things were not as rosy as they appeared at the swearing-in ceremony.
The Muslim community claims to have played a key role in Congress’s rise to power in Karnataka. Now, as a way of acknowledging its support for the Congress party, the community insists on giving its leaders a key portfolio. Shafi Sadi, chairman of the Waqf board, has publicly called for the allocation of the post of deputy chief minister and five key posts including home affairs, taxation and education to the priorities of the Muslim community. His video went viral on social media platforms.
MPs including G Parameshwara, KH Muniyappa, KJ George, MB Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Priyank Kharge, Ramalinga Reddy and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan were sworn in as Siddaramaiah cabinet ministers on Saturday. It was unclear whether Congress would consider the request from the Muslim community, since it would also need to accommodate leaders from several other communities.
Likewise, the BJP failed to gain support from the Lingayat community, which accounts for nearly 14% of Karnataka’s electorate.
The BJP has traditionally pinned its hopes on the Lingayat community, but political analysts believe a series of events leading up to parliamentary elections, including candidate selection, have dampened the saffron party’s prospects.
First, prominent Lingayat leader BS Yeddyurappa was sacked as chief minister. Senior Lingayat leaders Jagadish Shetter and Laxman Savadi were not treated as they should be and eventually they defected to the Congress Party.
All these factors favored Congress, which won 37 of the 46 Lingayat community candidates the party fielded. Instead, the BJP fielded 69 Lingayat community candidates, but only 15 won.
Unlike the BRS government in Telangana, which showcased welfare and development to seek votes, both Congress and the BJP insisted on community and religion-based politics. While Congress now faces the task of appeasing the Muslim community, the BJP will have to win back the trust of the Lingayat community.
During the Munugode bypoll in Telangana, the BRS party submitted a development progress report and pledged more development in the constituency. Instead, the BJP is obsessed with community politics and Congress cannot even list its contribution in constituency development over the years. In the end, both sides lost and the BRS won the by-election convincingly.
