Civic polls: BJP high command may override State unit’s resistance to alliance with JD (S)

Even as the JD(S) and BJP central leadership seem to have greenlit an alliance for Bengaluru’s long-pending civic polls, there is stiff resistance within the State unit of the BJP to the alliance. However, local BJP leaders are likely to be overruled by the BJP central leaders with a larger perspective in mind, multiple sources said. 

JD(S) State president and Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is seen as having a hotline to the national party’s central leadership, and his statement to his partymen on Friday that they would fight along with BJP is seen as an indication of the saffron party high command clearing the same, sources said.

Sources in the JD(S) said that they were looking at Vokkaliga dominated Assembly constituencies in the outer zones like Yeshwanthpur, R.R. Nagar, Dasarahalli, Bengaluru South, among others, where they have a strong base in seat sharing formula with the BJP. 

However, this has not gone down well with local BJP leaders. “Though the BJP’s State unit is rife with factionalism, all factions seem to be united in their resentment of Mr. Kumaraswamy’s clout with their party’s central leadership,” a senior BJP leader observed.

While Vokkaliga leadership in the party is insecure with Mr. Kumaraswamy’s credentials as a leader of the community, others resent the language JD(S) and its supporters are deploying online, moulding the BJP-JD(S) alliance in the State on the lines of BJP-JDU alliance in Bihar, and openly suggesting Mr. Kumaraswamy will be the Chief Minister next term.

Filmy touch

The recent AI-made parody of Yash starrer Toxic trailer, hinting at Mr. Kumaraswamy’s return to State politics, has reportedly not gone down well in the BJP. With the leadership question not yet being settled in the BJP in a post B.S. Yediyurappa phase, Mr. Kumaraswamy has been a cause of concern, sources said.

A senior BJP leader from Bengaluru said that the party was confident of winning at least four of the five corporations in the city on its own and JD(S) offered “precious little”. He pointed out that BJP had won the BBMP council in 2010 and had a simple majority in 2015 as well, though Congress and JD(S) held power in the second tenure. “In both 2010 and 2015 BBMP councils, JD(S) had not won more than 15 seats out of 198. Today, there is not a single JD(S) MLA in the city,” he pointed out.

JD(S) came second in two seats in the recent 2023 Assembly polls – Yeshwanthpur and Dasarahalli – both won by BJP.

Larger perspective

However, a senior strategist for the party said that the alliance with JD(S) was brokered by the high command with a larger perspective in mind.

“On the one hand BJP has never been able to secure a simple majority in the State, leading to two tenures brought in through Operation Lotus. It resulted in instability and corruption of the cadre-based party. On the other hand, the party has failed to make inroads into the Vokkaliga heartland of the Old Mysore region, also one of the reasons why it has failed to get 113 seats in the Assembly. Alliance with JD(S) is seen as a response to both these shortfalls of the party on a larger canvas,” he explained, stressing that there will be an alliance with JD(S) even in local body polls, including for the GBA. 

He argued that BJP and JD(S) going together will help fight the incumbent Congress, already mired in confusion over leadership issues, particularly in the Old Mysore region, from where both Siddaramaiah and D.K. Shivakumar hail.

Larger pool of votes

“A decisive victory for us in this area in local body polls will be a blow to the government ahead of the 2028 assembly polls. So even if JD(S) doesn’t bring much to the table in the GBA area, we will likely go with them as they will help us defeat Congress elsewhere,” the strategist said, adding BJP and JD(S) put together will pool in nearly 50% of the vote share.