Bengaluru: R.Ashoka, a seven-time legislator and former deputy chief minister of Karnataka, was announced as the new leader of the Opposition (LoP), six months after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost power in the 10 May assembly elections.
Ashoka, the 66-year-old legislator from Padmanabhanagar in Bengaluru, was unanimously elected LoP Friday evening, marking the completion of B.S.Yediyurappa’s comeback to the party leadership after nearly three years on the sidelines, according to political observers.
Last week, with Yediyurappa wresting control of the Karnataka unit from BJP national general secretary (organisation), B.L. Santhosh, his son, B.Y. Vijayendra, was named state president, superseding several senior leaders.
There were at least two other contenders — Sunil Kumar and Dr C.N. Ashwath Narayan — who are believed to be close to Santhosh and were in the race for LoP but made way for Ashoka.
“Both of us (Vijayendra) grew from within the party without any controversy and by just putting in the work. We are like two bulls. We will travel across the state and bring the BJP back to power in the state. Our goal is to win 28 out of 28 seats in next year’s Lok Sabha elections,” Ashoka told reporters in Bengaluru Friday.
Ashoka is from the dominant Vokkaliga caste group, whose support the BJP has been actively seeking as a strategy to keep the two most dominant communities (the Lingayats being the other) in its corner as it approaches the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
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Dissent and discontent simmer in the party ranks
Ashoka’s elevation comes amid an outpouring of dissent within the BJP, which remains a divided house.
On Friday, Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, the firebrand BJP legislator from Vijayapura, lashed out at the party for apparently neglecting northern Karnataka.
Yatnal was in the race for LoP as well as state president but was overlooked mostly because of his vehement opposition to Yediyurappa and his family, according to party sources.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Dushyant Kumar Gautam — the two central observers — had met Yatnal Friday to convince the legislator. However, he spoke to the media after this meeting, lashing out at the decision and saying it gave prominence to southern Karnataka.
“Why should only those from southern Karnataka be given the chance? How many seats do we (BJP) get from here (southern Karnataka) apart from the Mangaluru region? How many seats do we get from Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar or Kolar or Chikkaballapura? We want regional balance,” Yatnal told reporters in Bengaluru.
“One (state president) from one side and the other (LoP) from the other side… If everyone is from here then should we stand before them and keep begging behind them,” he added.
Yatnal has consistently raised his voice against Yediyurappa and his family. His voice and opposition have grown louder after Vijayendra was named state president last week.
He walked out of the legislature party meeting Friday and told reporters that he was going to “drink tea” as it was unaffordable for the poor to drink at ITC Gardenia. However, he did not return to the meeting.
An hour later, he posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Na dainyam, na palayanam” a Sanskrit phrase that means one should never escape from problems in life, and never quit and bow to enemies).
ನ ದೈನ್ಯಂ, ನ ಪಲಾಯನಂ 🙏
A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge, and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges.
— Basanagouda R Patil (Yatnal) (@BasanagoudaBJP) November 17, 2023
But soon after the legislature party meeting, Yediyurappa briefly told reporters outside the ITC Gardenia Hotel that there was “no dissent” within the party.
Meanwhile, another party leader, Arvind Bellad, the four-time legislator from Hubballi-Dharwad, said he accepts the party decision.
Bellad, like Yatnal, is a Lingayat and was in the running for state president and LoP. He is viewed as being among those who are opposed to the continued patronage of Yediyurappa and his family.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru Friday, Bellad said, “There is pain for North Karnataka and we know we won’t get any value for our sentiments. But with the view of ensuring a third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have decided to accept the decision on LoP.”
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Caste identity and upcoming elections
In Karnataka’s deeply caste-based society, political parties target specific communities to secure votes.
Yatnal is also a Lingayat like Vijayendra and the party had decided to give the post of LoP to another prominent community, the Vokkaligas, as it looks to reach out to other caste groups ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
But while Ashoka is a Vokkaliga, he has little sway within the community that is found largely in the southern districts of the state. The BJP is trying to keep the Vokkaliga and Lingayat support base from splintering, and has announced a pre-poll alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular).
In the last two decades, while the Lingayats were believed to back the BJP, the Vokkaligas stood behind the JD(S) led by former prime minister H.D.Deve Gowda and the Congress, especially under Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has gone after a combination of votes from the backward classes and minorities or AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits).
However, the Congress was able to wrest some of the Vokkaliga vote away from the JD(S) in the 10 May assembly elections.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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