Just three days ago, the post-poll developments in Karnataka had given a new energy to the BJP in its campaign for the May 28 bypoll in Kerala’s Chengannur Assembly constituency, but the political drama that unfolded in Bangalore on Friday and Saturday have caused a sudden change in the nature of electioneering with the CPI(M)-led ruling lDF and Congress-led Opposition lDF getting a boost to their spirits.
Though the BJP is putting up a bold face despite the fiasco, observers say that a sense of disappointment is perceptible in the NDA camp as the adversaries are focusing their campaign on what they call the “myth of Modi-Shah invincibility” and BJP’s alleged disregard for political and Constitutional morality in the wake of BS Yeddyurappa’s ascent to and descent.
The State BJP trying to turn the setback in Karnataka into an advantage in the bypoll by describing the resignation of Yeddyurappa as Chief Minister within 55 hours of enthronement as a symbol of the party’s commitment to upholding political morality but observers feel that it has raised the confidence level of the Congress and the lDF, of which the JD(S) is a constituent.
“The failure of BJP’s strategy happened in Karnataka just when the left was struggling in Chengannur to resist the charges over the failures of the lDF Government and when the Congress and UDF were facing allegations of being an ineffective Opposition. Both the camps have regained their vitality with the Karnataka developments,” said a senior journalist.
The first phase of last week’s Bangalore drama was to the advantage of the BJP in Chengannur as the party’s brilliant performance in the Karnataka Assembly election and advent of Yeddyurappa to the top post had given a new energy to the leaders and campaigners and this had even promoted them to claim that the alliance’s victory in the bypoll was certain.
However, the second and final parts of the drama which included the Supreme Court’s intervention, the Congress-JD(S) combine’s ‘resort politics’ and Yeddyurappa’s inevitable ‘fall’ have come as an embarrassment for State BJP. “It seems they will have to devise new strategies. It’s a relief that the bypoll is still eight days away”, the journalist said.
But close aides of NDA candidate PS Sreedharan Pillai exuded confidence saying that Yeddyurappa’s decision to step down actually showed the BJP’s adherence to democratic principles and political morality and it would only help the NDA in Chengannur. “The people are intelligent enough to understand the hypocrisy and opportunism of Congress,” said a Pillai aide.
Pillai had proved his popularity in the constituency as NDA candidate in the 2016 Assembly election by increasing the alliance’s votes to 42,682 from a mere 6,062 it had polled in the previous election of 2011. “This popularity and the many good things the Narendra Modi Government has been doing will work in our favour,” he said.
It seems that the BJP’s claims do not worry the CPI(M) or the Congress much. They have already made Karnataka a vital item in their campaign issues. Both the lDF and the UDF have suddenly been emboldened to arguing that the BJP is not even a factor in this bypoll but the battle is between the left and the Opposition UDF.
lDF candidate Saji Cherian and his campaigners, who have from the very beginning been attacking the Centre as part of their election strategy, have intensified that in the context of the developments in Karnataka. The Chengannur by-election was necessitated by the death of sitting CPI(M) member KK Ramachandran Nair on January 14. Sunday evening and the entire Monday saw the Congress claiming the whole credit for what has happened in Karnataka in its election meetings in Chengannur. The UDF is also banking on the fact that Chengannur basically shows a leaning to the UDF as it had won the seat five times in a row from 1991 and the popularity of its Congress candidate D Vijayakumar in the constituency.
Meanwhile, campaigning for the bypoll has reached a feverish pitch in Chengannur with top State leaders frequenting the constituency without interval. Several Ministers of the lDF Government are camping in Chengannur to lead Saji Cherian’s campaigning and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will spend three days in the constituency this week.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, former State Congress chief VM Sudheeran, former Union Minister Mullappally Ramachandran and other senior leaders of the UDF are leading the campaigning for Vijayakumar. “Vijayakumar is going to win the seat. Anybody who has gone around Chengannur at least once would be convinced about it,” said Chandy.
Top State BJP leaders including Kummanam, general secretaries K Surendran and Sobha Surendran and Suresh Gopi and Adivasi leader CK Janu, chairperson of NDA constituent Janadhipathya Rashtreeya Sabha have been campaigning for Pillai. The BJP expects national leaders to campaign for Pillai in Chengannur in the coming days.