Karnataka Elections 2018: Dynastic politics rule the roost in Karnataka

Karnataka Elections 2018

Dynastic politics rule the roost in Karnataka

By Deepak Parvatiyar

The Marathi translation of this article was published in leading Marathi daily Pudhari on 4th May 2018

http://newspaper.pudhari.co.in/archive/viewpage.php?edn=Kolhapur&date=2018-05-04&edid=PUDHARI_KOL&pid=PUDHARI_KOL&pn=8   

Sons have risen during the election time in Karnataka but there is nothing new about this. Dynastic politics has ruled the roost in Karnataka for quite some time now.

With perhaps the only exception of Soumya Reddy, daughter of state home minister Ramalinga Reddy, who is given the Congress ticket from Jayanagar, there is no other daughter of any influential politician in the fray and it indeed significant that top state politicians continue to avoid pitting their daughters/daughters-in-law into the fray.

A case in point is Janata Dal (Secular) supremo and former Prime Minister as well as former state chief minister H.D. Deve Gowda denying party tickets to his daughters in law Bhavani and Anitham who are politically active. So much so that Gowda has fielded his son and Anitha’s husband HD Kumarswamy – a former chief minister – from Channapatna constituency from where Anitha had contested and lost in 2013! Himself unsure of his fate from Channaptna, Kumarswamy is also contesting from Ramanagara. Gowda’s another son HD Revanna too is in the fray from Holenarasipura. The reason why the women in his family were denied tickets was the criticism that JD(S) had become ‘Appa – Makkala Paksha’ (pary of father and children). Obviously the women in his family became the sacrificial goats and his sons remained untouched as Gowda proceeded to counter such criticism.

But can Gowda alone be blamed for giving preferential treatment to his sons in a state where women are continuously being overlooked as political entities? Consider that out of total 2655 candidates in the fray this time, only 219 are women. Ironically even this is an improvement from last elections as in 2013, when only 170 women were in the fray in the state and of them only six could win. Little surprise therefore, that in the 33-member state cabinet last time, only two were women.

So it is along the expected lines that women are ignored again this time and prominent political parties such as the BJP, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) have fielded  just eight , fifteen and 14 women candidates respectively. At the same time, state’s top leaders’ fixation with their sons is ever growing. Including Deve Gowda’s sons, as many as seven sons of present and former state chief ministers are contesting elections this time. Only the state BJP president and former CM BS Yedyurappa’s sons B.Y.Raghavendra, a former MP and sitting MLA from Shikaripura, from where now his father is contesting, and B.Y. Vijayendra have not been given tickets. But even they are not above scrutiny as incumbent Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of the Congress has  attacked the BJP of indulging into dynastic politics and taking “decision” to field Raghavendra in the elections to the Lok Sabha. To placate Vijayendra, and his angry supporters, the party has made him the State General Secretary of the BJP Yuva Morcha.

As far as Siddaramaiah is concerned, even he is not above board when it comes to dynastic politics. His son Yathindra too is a congress candidate this time and to ensure his smooth passage to the state legislature, Siddaramaiah has offered him his own constituency, Varuna, and he opted to simultaneously contest two different and relatively tough constituencies against formidable rivals.

Another father-son duo in the fray this time is Congress’s Shamanur Shivashankarappa and his son, SS Mallikarjuna respectively from Davangere South and Davangere North. Being the son of a top leader, Mallikarjuna was straightaway made a minister after winning the state assembly elections in 2013 for the first time. 

Besides, while former CM JH Patel's son, Mahima Patel, is the Janata Dal (United) candidate from Channagiri in Davanagere district, former CM Dharam Singh's son Ajay Singh is seeking re-election from Jevargi in Kalaburagi district. Former CM S R Bommai's son, Basavaraja Bommai, too is contesting from Shiggaon in Haveri district on a BJP ticket. Moreover, Priyank Kharge, the son of the leader of the Indian National Congress party in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, is the Congress candidate from Chitapur (SC) seat. Much like Shivashankarappa’ son Mallikarjuna, being the son of an important leader had worked in Priyank’s favour when despite being a first time MLA, he had become minister in the present state government.

Incidentally it is not that siblings of powerful political satraps share same political ideology. At times they are bitter rivals too, gunning after each other. For example former CM S. Bangarappa's sons - Kumar Bangarappa and Madhu Bangarappa - will take on each other in Soraba, Shivamogga district. They represent BJP and the JD(S), respectively. Madhu is the sitting MLA from Soraba. But despite their differences, they do keep dynastic politics alive.

As Priyank Kharge recently said, dynastic politics is a dead issue among political parties. Still according to him, the BJP was "more khandani". What he conveniently did not say was that the same applies to all other major political parties in the state. And that he too was a part of this political “khandan”.