In a major setback to former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, the BJP central leadership went by the rule book not to promote dynasty politics and denied a ticket to his son BY Vijayendra, for the legislative Council elections from the Assembly to be held on June 3. The ticket distribution by the BJP and the Congress had many surprises as some names of aspirants which were almost certain to be picked were dropped at the last minute. With civic bodies and panchayats polls in the coming months culminating in the Assembly elections in early 2023, all three parties opted for social engineering and rewarded its party workers, in selecting candidates for the seven seats.
Based on the numerical strength of its members in the Assembly, the BJP has fielded four candidates and the tickets have been given to people belonging to Panchamashali Lingayat, Backward Class, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities. The Congress, which could field two candidates chose from Muslim and Backward Class communities, while the JD(S) for the one seat also chose a person from Backward Class.
After Yediyurappa stepped down from the Chief Minister's post in July 2021, it was speculated that his son BY Vijayendra would be compensated with a ticket to the Council and a ministerial post. Though the state BJP core committee had recommended his name, the central leadership went by its rule – no tickets to family. This is the second time Vijayendra has been denied a ticket. Earlier, during the 2018 Assembly polls, Yediyurappa had designated Vijayendra as the party candidate from Varuna and the latter had campaigned for weeks, before he was dropped from the candidates' list. There is speculation he will be accommodated in the party's campaign committee, which is to be constituted shortly.
In the bargain, the party has given a ticket to Laxman Savadi, a Yediyurappa loyalist. This is also to placate the Panchamasali Lingayats, who account for 80 lakh population of the 6.5 crore population in Karnataka. They have been demanding reservation under the 2A category, which is yet to be addressed by the government. Among the other three candidates, Chalavadi Narayanaswamy representing the Scheduled Castes (Right) quit the Congress and joined the BJP after he was denied a ticket in 2018 assembly polls. The political developments preceding the selection of candidates were more in the Congress party as the BJP aspirants were aware that their names could only be recommended to the central leadership and no amount of lobbying would help. In the JD(S), it was a toss-up between former MLC TA Saravana and KC Veerandra from Chitradurga.
For the two seats, the tussle between former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President DK Shivakumar was said to be over the caste representation than the candidates. According to party sources, Siddaramaiah was determined that the two tickets should go to a Muslim and a Backward Class, as both communities have stood by the party in all elections. Shivakumar was reportedly keen on giving one ticket to a Vokkaliga and it was to former Tumakuru MP SP Muddahanume Gowda. The latter had given up his Tumakuru Lok Sabha seat for former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in the 2019 elections. Besides, Muddahanume Gowda was said to be planning to contest from Kunigal assembly constituency in the 2023 polls, which is represented by Congress candidate HD Ranganath, a relative of Shivakumar. Siddaramaiah also put his foot down on giving the ticket to senior former MLC SR Patil, a Lingayat from Bagalkot. Patil's five-day tractor rally in April from Nargund in Gadag district to Bilagi in Bagalkot district for early implementation of irrigation projects in Kalyan Karnataka, was held without involving the party leadership, which had upset many. Siddaramaiah's Badami constituency comes in Bagalkot district and he was also apparently not consulted.
Congress sources said initially the debate was whether one ticket should be given to a Muslim or a Christian under the minority quota. Among the Christians, former MLC Ivan D'Souza and former Union minister Margaret Alva's son Nivedith Alva were the contenders. Ultimately, it was decided that a Muslim should be given the ticket and two names – former Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha K Rahman Khan's son Mansoor Ali Khan and KPCC general secretary and educationist and minority wing chairman K Abdul Jabbar were sent to the high command. Mansoor Ali Khan had been the observer for Goa North during the Goa assembly polls early this year and also met the requirements of the Congress Udaipur resolution of giving tickets to those below 50 years of age. However, some of the Congress MLAs from Bengaluru city reportedly objected as there was over-representation of Muslim elected representative from the City and the ticket went to Abdul Jabbar from Davanagere.
In the Backward Class quota, former legislator MR Seetharam, KPCC general secretary PV Mohan, who is in charge of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency and M Nagaraju Yadav were the aspirants. Yadav, who runs a chain of educational institutions in Belagavi and is close to party MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar bagged the ticket. Yadav is former chairman of Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation and being articulate, is a regular face on TV panel discussions. With no woman getting a ticket, KPCC general secretary Kavitha Reddy called out her party for “patriarchy” and “injustice” towards women. Posting a video on her Facebook wall, Reddy said every time a woman asks for a ticket, they get the same excuse that they do not have the resources or meet the criteria for winning.
It was loyalty to the Deve Gowda family and being actively involved in the organisation which resulted in TA Saravana, representing the Arya Vysya community (Backward Class) getting the ticket. A businessman who has a chain of jewellery shops in Bengaluru, Saravana had started Namma Appaji canteen as Deve Gowda is popularly called as Appaji in the party, in Hanumanthanagar in Bengaluru in 2017. This was to rival the Indira canteens started by Siddaramaiah during his tenure as CM.
The BJP has announced the names of Laxman Savadi (former Deputy Chief Minister, Panchamasali Lingayat), S Keshava Prasad (Backward Class), Chaluvadi Narayanaswamy (Scheduled Caste) and Hemalatha Nayak (Scheduled Tribe). While the Congress has announced the names of K Abdul Jabbar (Muslim) and M Nagaraju Yadav (Backward Class); JD(S) has announced the name of TA Saravana (Backward Class).