Bengaluru: With a dearth of young and popular faces, major political parties are relying on their ‘tried and tested’ old faces to sail through the upcoming Karnataka assembly polls. When Congress is heavily dependent on former Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah, JD (S) is relying on H D Kumaraswamy, BJP is heavily banking on their controversial former chief minister B S Yeddiyurappa who is not even contesting the election this year.
When Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the state assembly elections will be held under Yeddiyurappa's leadership it was evident that though the septuagenarian leader had much differences with the party high command, they cannot be a more suitable leader in the state to counter Congress and JDS. Though present chief minister Bommai belongs to the Lingayat community, and has a state wide acceptance, he has not emerged as a mass leader in the community like Yeddiyurappa.
On the other hand, Yeddiyurappa is the most popular leader in the BJP and has the ability to attract voters to the party. Initially ignored by the party high command, he was given a high position in the party as there was a threat to the party in the elections. The BJP is trying to bank on his popular support and the support of the Lingayat community by providing him with adequate representation at major election rallies and conventions.
The same is true in case of other major political parties. Siddaramaiah is the mass leader and the most popular community leader in Congress. The party is using him extensively in the election campaign. While there are many senior leaders in the party, including KPCC president DK Shivakumar, former deputy chief minister Dr. G Parameshwar, AICC president Mallikarjuna Kharge, they do not have the mass appeal of Siddaramaiah across the state. Siddaramaiah has his own legacy in the Kuruba community, and he has the glory of being the leader in the past.
In JDS, former Prime Minister Devegowda is the supreme leader, belonging to the Okkaliga community. However, as he is over 85 years old and has age-related problems, he is not able to campaign actively in this election. His son, former Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, is campaigning fiercely for JDS. The Okkaliga community is giving the same recognition to DeveGowda and Kumaraswamy. Therefore, JDS is relying on Kumaraswamy for its campaign in the assembly elections.
. In BJP, former Chief Minister Jagdish Shettar belongs to the Lingayat community but is not getting popular recognition like Yeddiyurappa. Former Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, who is a current BJP MP, belongs to the Okkaliga community but is unable to attract the votes of that community to the expected extent like Kumaraswamy.
Similarly, in Congress, former Chief Minister Veerappa Moily belongs to the backward class and is not as popular in the state as Siddaramaiah. In JDS, former minister Revanna is a senior leader who is confined to Hassan district only. JDS state president CM Ibrahim, former ministers Bandeppa Kashampur, GT Deve Gowda are not popular across the state.
The dependence of the political parties on the veterans is obvious enough to say that the second line of the third line of leadership in Karnataka has not grown for years. Experts believe that the younger generation was given the opportunity but they couldn’t mature themselves to develop a state-wide acceptance.
“Lack of mass leaders is not only in politics. It is everywhere. We have seen this in all sectors. Some build institutions with their efforts but after that it will be lacking proper leadership. The situation is the same in politics. Leaders with mass support should groom talented leaders so that they can carry on the legacy. On the other hand the young leaders should utilise the opportunity and try to become true mass leaders. In Karnataka several leaders got the opportunity but failed,” journalist and political analyst Manohar Yadavatti said.
