Karnataka   

All-out efforts to regain lost glory

KOLAR: The undivided Kolar district has been considered as one of the bastions of the Janata Parivar. During the last two decades, voters of the region, now consisting of Kolar and Chickballapur districts, have solidly stood behind the Janata Party and Janata Dal (Secular). It is said the parivar winning 10 seats each out of the 12 on two earlier occasions stands testimony to its strength in the undivided district.

While the Janata Party won 10 seats in the 1988 elections, its later “avatar”, the Janata Dal (S), repeated the feat during the 1994 polls.

The district has also not lagged behind in sending eminent leaders to the parties. The late C. Byregowda and K.M. Krishna Reddy stand tall among them. K.B. Pillappa and Hanur Veerappa are two other notable leaders of the political outfit in the old Mysore region. Both Byregowda and Krishna Reddy’s long tenure as Ministers is said to have helped in consolidating the anti-Congress stand in the district.

However, the party has not been able retain the glory in the region owing to many factors, including a dearth of inspiring leadership and also factionalism. Its support base eroded and the Congress gained the upper hand in the last decade resulting in the Janata Dal (S) managing only one or two seats during the last two Legislative Assembly polls.

With the Assembly polls round the corner, the Janata Dal (S) is making all-out efforts to regain the trust of the voters.

It is in this background that the former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (S) chief H.D. Deve Gowda has focussed his attention on the region. Mr. Deve Gowda launched his State-wide campaign from Mulbagal in the district two months ago.

The former Chief Minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy, toured Chickballapur district in the first leg of his Jaitra Yatre this month.

According to political analysts, all these were aimed at rejuvenating the party in the region.

Mr. Deve Gowda has made several trips to Kolar and Chickballapur districts in the recent months with the sole objective of soothing the “hurt feelings” of many leaders, including Krishna Reddy and the former Minister, R. Srinivas.

“All these have had a telling effect on the prospects of the party,” says R. Dayanand, secretary general of the party’s Kolar district unit. “The morale of rank and file of the party is high. Enthusiasm among activists is evident at party meetings throughout the district,” Mr. Dayanand told The Hindu.

Apart from the rejuvenated interest among the leaders and cadres, the party looks to encash from what it calls the “weakness” of a faction-ridden Congress. The Bharatiya Janata Party may not be a force to reckon with in the district, say some Janata Dal (S) leaders.

Banking on the “achievements” of the Kumaraswamy government and the popularity Mr. Deve Gowda enjoys as a farmers’ leader, the Janata Dal (S) is hoping to win the people’s mandate in at least six seats in the two districts in Assembly polls.

The former MLAs, K. Venkatashiva Reddy, who is also the party’s district unit president, and M. Bhaktavatsalam, are expected to be fielded in Srinivaspur and Kolar Gold Fields (SC) constituencies respectively. Prabhakar has been named as the party nominee for Malur segment while Mr. Srinivas’ choice will be the candidate for Mulbagal (SC) constituency.

While the party is still to find a candidate for Bangarpet (SC) segment, K.B. Gopalakrishna has emerged as a consensus candidate for Kolar constituency.

Though Mr. Dayanand’s name was considered for candidature in Kolar, he has reportedly turned down the offer saying that he is interested in organisational work. Another prominent leader Moorandahalli Gopal’s name is doing the rounds. Since Mr. Gopalakrishna hails from the erstwhile Vemgal constituency, large parts of which were merged with the Kolar segment after the delimitation process, the balance is in favour of the former, it is said.

It is widely believed that the Janata Dal (S) is thinking of fielding Mr. Kumaraswamy from Chickballapur constituency hoping to create a pro-Janata Dal (S) wave riding high on the emotions of the people in the background of his efforts to carve out the district during his tenure as Chief Minister.

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