BJP, JD(S) clash on Mysore highway takes a caste turn

BJP, JD(S) clash on Mysore highway takes a caste turn
The Indian Express

BANGALORE, JUNE 16:JD(S) National President H D Deve Gowda’s efforts to get the BJP national leadership to convince its Karnataka unit to toe his party’s line on the takeover of the country’s first private roadway

project, the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Project, seem to have failed.
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Gowda has been trying to convince the BJP that the coalition can project the BMICP takeover as a move to protect farmers from losing land to the private project. The former prime minister has also spoken about the possibility of President’s rule being imposed in the state by the UPA government, sources said. Unless Deve Gowda backs off on the takeover issue, the future of the coalition is sealed, sources said.

State BJP leader Sadanand Gowda said on Friday that the BJP would re-emphasise its stand at a joint meeting of the JD(S)-BJP co-ordination committee on June 18.

The BJP stand is dictated by the nuances of caste politics in the state as much as fear of sending out wrong signals to investors and the fear of the repeat of a strong rebuke from the courts for going against directives, say sources.

Apart from dividing Karnataka’s ruling coalition partners the BJP and the JD(S) on pro- and anti-development lines, the project is also driving a caste wedge in the coalition.

‘‘The BMICP issue is turning out into a Vokkaliga-versus-Lingayat battle,’’ a senior Karnataka politician said. The Vokkaligas and Lingayats are two dominant groups in the state that have constantly battled for political power in Karnataka. The two groups between themselves make up nearly 30 per cent of the state’s population. The current JD(S) is largely a Vokkaliga-dominated party. The area through which the BMICP is to be created in southern Karnataka is a traditional Vokkaliga land-holding belt. On the other hand, the key promoters of the BMICP are from the Lingayat community. The 1997 Framework Agreement for the BMICP was signed under a Lingayat Chief Minister from JD—J H Patel.

Currently, the BJP is a party that stands on a Lingayat base spread around the northern parts of Karnataka and deputy chief minister B S Yediyurappa is from the Lingayat community. ‘‘Since the JDS-BJP coalition government was formed there has been a feeling in the Lingayat community that their interests are not being protected, that the government is Vokkaliga-dominated. The BMICP issue has served as a key point for manifestation of disgruntlement,’’ says a political observer.