Indian political party
Political party in India
The
Bharatiya Janata Party
, or simply,
BJP Karnataka
(
BJP
;
[b?aː??t?iːj?
d??n?t?aː
paːrtiː]
ⓘ
;
lit.
'
Indian People's Party
'
),
is the state unit of the
Bharatiya Janata Party
of the Karnataka. Its head office is situated at the BJP Bhavan, 11th Cross, Temple Street,
Malleshwaram
,
Bengaluru
. The current president of BJP Karnataka is
B. Y. Vijayendra
. It is the main opposition party in Karnataka.
Till date 4 chief ministers from the party have served the state.
[1]
Electoral history
[
edit
]
BJP contested 110 seats in the January
1983 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election
, winning 18 seats and obtained 7.9% of the votes cast across the state.
[2]
[3]
Out of its 110 candidates, 71 lost their deposits.
[2]
Along with the
Andhra Pradesh
legislative election there same year, this marked the first major performance of the party in southern India.
[2]
Nine out of the 18 BJP legislators came from the coastal districts.
[4]
The influence of BJP in Karnataka was marked by its inability to mobilize support in rural areas, where the
Janata Dal
leader
Ramakrishna Hegde
and Abdul Nazir Sab (Hegde's Rural Development Minister) had built a strong network of local Janata Dal leaders through the
panchayat
system.
[4]
After the 1983 election the BJP offered some outside support to the Hegde government.
[4]
The party suffered a set-back in the
1985 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election
, only 2 of its 115 candidates were elected.
[2]
The party obtained 3.7% of the state-wide vote and 100 of its candidates lost their deposits.
[2]
The
BJP’s
journey is one of evolution, from a nascent political force to a powerful institution, from a unifying voice to a catalyst for change.
The 1980s was characterized by internal strife in the BJP Karnataka unit, as the followers of
Ananth Kumar
and
V. Dhananjay Kumar
combatted each other.
[5]
Ananth Kumar was the secretary of the Karnataka BJP unit 1987?1988.
[6]
In 1988, trying to overcome the split,
B. S. Yediyurappa
was chosen as the consensus candidate for the presidency of the BJP Karnataka state unit.
[5]
BJP contested 119 seats in the
1989 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election
, winning four seats and obtaining 4.13% of the votes cast across the state.
[7]
BJP obtained 28.8% of the votes in Karnataka in the
1991 Indian general election
.
[8]
This result marked a sharp increase from the 2.5% of the votes that the party had received in the
1989 Indian general election
in Karnataka.
[9]
This time BJP had contested all 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state, winning four.
[10]
The growth of BJP vote in Karnataka was partially due to the
Ram Janmabhoomi
campaign and the nationalist discourse of the party.
[10]
BJP fielded 223 candidates in the
1994 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election
.
[7]
Ahead of the election the party state unit published a 41-page manifesto, seeking to portray a pragmatic and populist approach of the party with a focus on socio-economic issues rather than
communalist
discourse.
[11]
After the 1994 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, BJP held the role as
Leader of Opposition
in the assembly for a brief period.
[8]
The electoral result had an important symbolic meaning for the BJP, who had begun to see Karnataka as its 'gateway' into south India.
[9]
By the late 1990s, Karnataka was the sole state in
southern India
where BJP wasn't a marginal political phenomenon.
[11]
[12]
During this period, the anti-reservation stance of BJP in response to the
Mandal Commission
had attracted support among higher castes in Karnataka, rather than
Hindutva
nationalism per se.
[11]
The 1999 split in the Janata Dal offered the BJP the possibility to do inroads among Lingayat voters.
[4]
However, as of the late 1990s the BJP Karnataka state organization remained weak, with the strength of the party concentrated in urban pockets and a few rural pockets (
Coorg
and the two coastal districts).
[8]
In the
1998 Lok Sabha parliamentary election
, BJP increased its number of seats in Karnataka from six to 13.
[13]
[14]
BJP had contested the election in coalition with
Lok Shakti
, through which BJP had contested 18 seats and Lok Shakti 10 seats.
[15]
[14]
With Lok Shakti's Hegde campaigning for the BJP, the party was somewhat able to portray a more moderate image and tone down its Hindutva profile.
[14]
Just before the
1999 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election
, the BJP national leadership forced its Karnataka branch into an alliance with the then governing
Janata Dal (United)
.
[8]
[16]
Thus the party could not benefit from the anti-incumbency wave against the Janata Dal cabinet.
[8]
The tie-up with the Janata Dal (United) was unpopular among BJP workers in the state.
[17]
Following the 1999 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election the party obtained the Leader of Opposition role again.
[8]
The more significant breakthrough of BJP as a major actor in Karnataka state politics came in 2004.
[8]
In the
2004 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election
, the party won 71 out of 224 seats.
[4]
Whilst BJP remained organizationally weak in rural Karnataka, it managed to increase its share of vote by attracting
Lingayat
voters from parts of northern Karnataka.
[8]
[4]
In the
2004 Lok Sabha parliamentary election
, BJP won 18 seats from Karnataka.
[4]
BJP had become the largest party in the state assembly, but could not form a government as the
Janata Dal (Secular)
and the Congress Party formed a coalition.
[8]
The JD(S)-Congress coalition, however, suffered internal strife and in 2006
H.D Kumarswami
struck a deal with BJP which stipulated that the post of Chief Minister would be given to BJP after a 20-month period.
[4]
In 2007, when the 20 months had passed, H.D Kumarswami opted to retain the position, sparking outcry and a wave of sympathy towards BJP and B. S. Yediyurappa.
[4]
[18]
The strength of BJP in Karnataka state politics increased significantly between October 2007 and April 2009.
[4]
Ahead of the
2008 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election
, BJP had emerged as the sole viable alternative to the Janata Dal (S) and the Congress Party in Karnataka state politics.
[17]
Following the formation of the BJP state government in 2008, there was a wave of attacks on Christian churches in Karnataka.
[19]
The
National Commission for Minorities
denounced the BJP state governments for inaction in preventing the attacks.
[19]
Under pressure from the central government, the BJP state government arrested a number of
Shri Ram Sena
leaders.
[19]
In the
2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election
, the BJP fell to third place in the state behind the Indian National Congress and Janata Dal (Secular). While the INC won a majority in the Legislative Assembly with 122 seats, the BJP fell to 40 seats.
The decision of the Congress state government to grant minority status to the Lingayats prompted the RSS (a move seen by RSS as "an attempt to divide the Hindus") to take a more active role in supporting the BJP in the
2018 state elections
.
[20]
RSS brought in senior leaders from across the country for the state election campaign.
[20]
Reportedly some 50,000 RSS cadres campaigned for BJP, as well as some 3,000
Vishwa Hindu Parishad
and
Bajrang Dal
cadres.
[20]
RSS mobilization for BJP in the electoral campaign was particularly strong in the coastal districts (a stronghold of RSS, but also an area with sizable Christian and Muslim populations).
[20]
Support base
[
edit
]
For many years, the BJP support base was mainly
Brahmin
&
Jains
but in 1990's it expanded to include more
Lingayats
(as well as some
Vokkaligas
).
[7]
[17]
Most of the party state leadership is either Lingayat or Brahmin.
[17]
By the 2000s, the party had sought support among other communities, such as the
OBCs
,
Dalits
and Vokkaligas, utilizing Hindutva as mobilizing factor (albeit with limited success).
[17]
The party has a strong support base in the coastal regions of the state ( especially
Udupi
and
Dakshina Kannada
).The party has consistently maintained support in the urban centres of Karnataka.
[21]
Electoral history
[
edit
]
Legislative Assembly elections
[
edit
]
Year
|
Seats won
|
+/-
|
Voteshare (%)
|
+/- (%)
|
Outcome
|
1983
|
|
18
|
7.93%
|
?
|
Outside support for
JP
|
1985
|
|
16
|
3.88%
|
4.05%
|
Opposition
|
1989
|
|
2
|
4.14%
|
0.26%
|
Opposition
|
1994
|
|
36
|
16.99%
|
12.85%
|
Opposition
|
1999
|
|
4
|
20.69%
|
3.70%
|
Opposition
|
2004
|
|
35
|
28.33%
|
7.64%
|
Opposition,
later Government
|
2008
|
|
31
|
33.86%
|
5.53%
|
Government
|
2013
|
|
70
|
19.89%
|
13.97%
|
Opposition
|
2018
|
|
64
|
36.22%
|
16.33%
|
Opposition,
later Government
|
2023
|
|
38
|
36.00%
|
0.22%
|
Opposition
|
Lok Sabha elections
[
edit
]
Leadership
[
edit
]
S. Mallikarjunaiah
was the vice president of the BJP Karnataka state unit between 1980 and 1986.
[22]
He again held the post as BJP Karnataka state unit vice president 1990?1991.
[22]
Nalin Kumar Kateel
was appointed as the president of the Karnataka state unit of BJP on August 20, 2019.
[23]
Reportedly the outgoing president B. S. Yediyurappa had favoured
Arvind Limbavali
for the post, but the National General Secretary (Organisation) of the party B.L. Santosh had favoured Kateel due to his credentials as a RSS loyalist.
[23]
Soon after taking over as state unit president Kateel named Bhanuprakash and Nirmal Kumar Surana as Vice Presidents of the BJP state unit.
[24]
The two leaders, seen as part of the 'old guard' of the party, had been ousted from the state leadership in 2016.
[24]
List of presidents
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"List of Chief Ministers of Karnataka & Their Service Periods ? Oneindia"
.
www.oneindia.com
. Retrieved
13 May
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Pratap Chandra Swain (2001).
Bharatiya Janata Party: Profile and Performance
. APH Publishing. pp. 194, 199, 207.
ISBN
978-81-7648-257-8
.
- ^
Robert L. Hardgrave (13 March 2019).
India Under Pressure: Prospects For Political Stability
. Taylor & Francis. p. 137.
ISBN
978-0-429-71661-4
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
Paul Wallace; Ramashray Roy (5 May 2011).
India's 2009 Elections: Coalition Politics, Party Competition and Congress Continuity
. SAGE Publications. pp. 270, 272?273, 282.
ISBN
978-81-321-0774-3
.
- ^
a
b
Business Standard Political Profiles of Cabals and Kings
. Business Standard Books. 2009. p. 188.
ISBN
978-81-905735-4-2
.
- ^
Ravi Bhushan (2003).
Reference India: Biographical Notes about Men & Women of Achievement of Today & Tomorrow
. Rifacimento International. p. 59.
- ^
a
b
c
Harish Ramaswamy (2007).
Karnataka Government and Politics
. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 241, 254, 260.
ISBN
978-81-8069-397-7
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Katharine Adeney; Lawrence Saez (11 April 2007).
Coalition Politics and Hindu Nationalism
. Routledge. pp. 92?94.
ISBN
978-1-134-23978-8
.
- ^
a
b
Partha Sarathy Ghosh (1 January 1999).
BJP and the Evolution of Hindu Nationalism: From Periphery to Centre
. Manohar Publishers & Distributors. p. 111.
ISBN
978-81-7304-253-9
.
- ^
a
b
Sumantra Bose (16 September 2013).
Transforming India
. Harvard University Press. p. 71.
ISBN
978-0-674-72819-6
.
- ^
a
b
c
Christophe Jaffrelot (1999).
The Hindu Nationalist Movement and Indian Politics: 1925 to the 1990s : Strategies of Identity-building, Implantation and Mobilisation (with Special Reference to Central India)
. Penguin Books India. pp. 439, 444?445, 539, 542.
ISBN
978-0-14-024602-5
.
- ^
Thomas Blom Hansen; Christophe Jaffrelot (4 June 2001).
The BJP and the compulsions of politics in India
. Oxford University Press. p. 163.
ISBN
978-0-19-565614-5
.
- ^
Ananth V. Krishna (September 2011).
India Since Independence: Making Sense Of Indian Politics
. Pearson Education India. p. 409.
ISBN
978-81-317-3465-0
.
- ^
a
b
c
M. L. Ahuja (1998).
Electoral Politics and General Elections in India, 1952-1998
. Mittal Publications. p. 107.
ISBN
978-81-7099-711-5
.
- ^
University of Madras (2003).
Electoral politics and nation building in South Indian states
. University of Madras. p. 157.
- ^
Wendy Doniger; Martha C. Nussbaum (9 February 2015).
Pluralism and Democracy in India: Debating the Hindu Right
. Oxford University Press. p. 167.
ISBN
978-0-19-938093-0
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Gopal K. Kadekodi; S. M. Ravi Kanbur; Vijayendra Rao (2008).
Development in Karnataka: Challenges of Governance, Equity, and Empowerment
. Academic Foundation. pp. 48?49, 98.
ISBN
978-81-7188-619-7
.
- ^
Kanta Murali (2 February 2017).
Caste, Class and Capital
. Cambridge University Press. p. 235.
ISBN
978-1-107-15450-6
.
- ^
a
b
c
Amrita Basu (30 June 2015).
Violent Conjunctures in Democratic India
. Cambridge University Press. pp. 49, 108.
ISBN
978-1-107-08963-1
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Walter Andersen; Shridhar D. Damle (15 June 2019).
Messengers of Hindu Nationalism: How the RSS Reshaped India
. Hurst. p. 398.
ISBN
978-1-78738-288-6
.
- ^
Kadekodi, Gopal K.; Kanbur, S. M. Ravi; Rao, Vijayendra (2008).
Development in Karnataka: Challenges of Governance, Equity, and Empowerment
. Academic Foundation.
ISBN
978-81-7188-619-7
.
- ^
a
b
H. D. Singh (1996).
543 faces of India: guide to 543 parliamentary constituencies
. Newmen Publishers. p. 129.
- ^
a
b
Deccan Herald
.
Nalin Kumar Kateel new BJP state president
- ^
a
b
The Hindu
.
Two old guards back as BJP Karnataka unit vice-presidents
Works cited
[
edit
]