With Kharge at helm, Congress seems to be to consolidate its Dalit vote base in poll-bound Karnataka

By PTI

BENGALURU: The political affect of Mallikarjun Kharge’s election to the submit of Congress President is being keenly watched in his poll-bound house state of Karnataka with the social gathering hoping to reap dividends to consolidate its Dalit vote base.

The veteran chief can be anticipated to make use of his good places of work in unifying the faction-ridden social gathering within the state, forward of Assembly elections simply six months away.

Kharge is barely the second chief, after Jagjivan Ram, to be the Congress President from the Dalit neighborhood, which constitutes about 24 per cent of the inhabitants throughout greater than 100 caste teams within the state.

According to some social gathering insiders and political observers, Congress’ robust assist base amongst Dalits has shrunk over time, as a consequence of varied elements together with a piece of it shifting in the direction of BJP lately, attracted by the robust management of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his push for a growth agenda.

Also, the grand previous social gathering’s incapacity to resolve the variations between left and proper sects among the many Dalits, regarding inner reservation, has additionally led to it dropping the assist of the Left, who’ve appreciable presence within the state.

Kharge belongs to the Dalit proper, and his capability to win over the left, who’ve by and enormous moved in the direction of the BJP, is essential, and can decide whether or not issues will flip in favour of the Congress or not, political analysts say.

There is anger amongst a big part of the neighborhood, over the truth that Congress, which loved their assist for lengthy, didn’t make a Dalit because the state’s Chief Minister.

Kharge himself had misplaced out from the possibility of turning into the Chief Minister, after having come very near it, a few instances.

Political analyst A Narayana from Azim Premji University mentioned, “Overall, it (Kharge’s elevation) is an advantage for the Congress (in Karnataka), but to what extent it will turn into an electoral or political capital, we do not know and have to see.”

Noting that Dalits harbour “a little bit” of anger towards the Congress which type of affected its prospects final time (in 2018 polls), he mentioned there may be nonetheless a sense locally that they weren’t given their due.

“Ultimately, that dissatisfaction will be addressed only when a Dalit becomes the CM, but it is a distant possibility, given the political realities of the state today. In the meantime, to address this discontent to an extent, it seems to be a good argument for the Congress to say that the top post of the party has been given to a Dalit, and we respect the Dalit sentiments,” he added.

Further, declaring that in Karnataka, Congress’ downside with Dalits is a extra particular one, the place the left sect of the neighborhood is offended with the social gathering greater than the fitting, Narayana mentioned it stays to be seen if the elevation of Kharge, a Dalit on the fitting will assist the social gathering to placate the opposite facet.

“It depends on how much they (Congress) try to leverage, whether Kharge will make any impact in that direction, and how they address the discontent that the left wing has particularly regarding the implementation of the Sadashiva Commission report among other things,” he added.

The Justice A J Sadashiva Inquiry Commission, which regarded into strategies of equitable distribution of reservation services amongst Scheduled Castes (SCs), had beneficial inner reservation among the many castes by broadly reclassifying all of the 101 castes into 4 teams.

Senior Congress chief and former Chairman of Legislative Council V R Sudarshan mentioned Kharge turning into the Congress President is a matter of delight for Karnataka and it’ll actually strengthen the social gathering affairs within the state, each politically and socially.

He mentioned, “It is an opportunity to consolidate (Dalits) in favour of the party. However, Kharge personally has never played his Dalit identity card, even when there was a circumstance for him to become the CM. He has always been a committed Congressman and gone by his performance and loyalty.”

With Kharge’s elevation, there are additionally talks in political circles as as to if it might create yet one more ‘energy centre’ throughout the Karnataka Congress which is deeply divided, and amid rising political one-upmanship between state President DK Shivakumar and Legislature Party chief Siddaramaiah, who’re nursing chief ministerial ambitions.

Amid this example, there are talks whether or not the brand new AICC chief will be capable of rein in all of the factions and unite the social gathering for the elections.

There are additionally discussions within the social gathering, whether or not will probably be ‘drawback’ for Siddaramaiah (who had joined the Congress from JDS) with Kharge on the helm as his desire could also be in the direction of old-time social gathering loyalists on issues referring to ticket distribution and leaders amongst others.

However, Narayana responding to this mentioned, “Yes, there will be another power centre in Karnataka, but will it affect the possibility of Siddaramaiah becoming or not becoming CM, I don’t think so, because Kharge is appointed keeping in mind the 2024 (Lok Sabha) election.”

BENGALURU: The political affect of Mallikarjun Kharge’s election to the submit of Congress President is being keenly watched in his poll-bound house state of Karnataka with the social gathering hoping to reap dividends to consolidate its Dalit vote base.

The veteran chief can be anticipated to make use of his good places of work in unifying the faction-ridden social gathering within the state, forward of Assembly elections simply six months away.

Kharge is barely the second chief, after Jagjivan Ram, to be the Congress President from the Dalit neighborhood, which constitutes about 24 per cent of the inhabitants throughout greater than 100 caste teams within the state.

According to some social gathering insiders and political observers, Congress’ robust assist base amongst Dalits has shrunk over time, as a consequence of varied elements together with a piece of it shifting in the direction of BJP lately, attracted by the robust management of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his push for a growth agenda.

Also, the grand previous social gathering’s incapacity to resolve the variations between left and proper sects among the many Dalits, regarding inner reservation, has additionally led to it dropping the assist of the Left, who’ve appreciable presence within the state.

Kharge belongs to the Dalit proper, and his capability to win over the left, who’ve by and enormous moved in the direction of the BJP, is essential, and can decide whether or not issues will flip in favour of the Congress or not, political analysts say.

There is anger amongst a big part of the neighborhood, over the truth that Congress, which loved their assist for lengthy, didn’t make a Dalit because the state’s Chief Minister.

Kharge himself had misplaced out from the possibility of turning into the Chief Minister, after having come very near it, a few instances.

Political analyst A Narayana from Azim Premji University mentioned, “Overall, it (Kharge’s elevation) is an advantage for the Congress (in Karnataka), but to what extent it will turn into an electoral or political capital, we do not know and have to see.”

Noting that Dalits harbour “a little bit” of anger towards the Congress which type of affected its prospects final time (in 2018 polls), he mentioned there may be nonetheless a sense locally that they weren’t given their due.

“Ultimately, that dissatisfaction will be addressed only when a Dalit becomes the CM, but it is a distant possibility, given the political realities of the state today. In the meantime, to address this discontent to an extent, it seems to be a good argument for the Congress to say that the top post of the party has been given to a Dalit, and we respect the Dalit sentiments,” he added.

Further, declaring that in Karnataka, Congress’ downside with Dalits is a extra particular one, the place the left sect of the neighborhood is offended with the social gathering greater than the fitting, Narayana mentioned it stays to be seen if the elevation of Kharge, a Dalit on the fitting will assist the social gathering to placate the opposite facet.

“It depends on how much they (Congress) try to leverage, whether Kharge will make any impact in that direction, and how they address the discontent that the left wing has particularly regarding the implementation of the Sadashiva Commission report among other things,” he added.

The Justice A J Sadashiva Inquiry Commission, which regarded into strategies of equitable distribution of reservation services amongst Scheduled Castes (SCs), had beneficial inner reservation among the many castes by broadly reclassifying all of the 101 castes into 4 teams.

Senior Congress chief and former Chairman of Legislative Council V R Sudarshan mentioned Kharge turning into the Congress President is a matter of delight for Karnataka and it’ll actually strengthen the social gathering affairs within the state, each politically and socially.

He mentioned, “It is an opportunity to consolidate (Dalits) in favour of the party. However, Kharge personally has never played his Dalit identity card, even when there was a circumstance for him to become the CM. He has always been a committed Congressman and gone by his performance and loyalty.”

With Kharge’s elevation, there are additionally talks in political circles as as to if it might create yet one more ‘energy centre’ throughout the Karnataka Congress which is deeply divided, and amid rising political one-upmanship between state President DK Shivakumar and Legislature Party chief Siddaramaiah, who’re nursing chief ministerial ambitions.

Amid this example, there are talks whether or not the brand new AICC chief will be capable of rein in all of the factions and unite the social gathering for the elections.

There are additionally discussions within the social gathering, whether or not will probably be ‘drawback’ for Siddaramaiah (who had joined the Congress from JDS) with Kharge on the helm as his desire could also be in the direction of old-time social gathering loyalists on issues referring to ticket distribution and leaders amongst others.

However, Narayana responding to this mentioned, “Yes, there will be another power centre in Karnataka, but will it affect the possibility of Siddaramaiah becoming or not becoming CM, I don’t think so, because Kharge is appointed keeping in mind the 2024 (Lok Sabha) election.”