Poll-bound states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala have opened up opportunities for Karnataka's second line leadership in the BJP and Congress to show their organising and electoral management skills like never before.
In recent days both national parties have been increasingly delegating electoral responsibilities to their frontline and second-rung leaders from Karnataka. Elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu are expected to be announced anytime. The appointments include two former Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Presidents G Parameshwara and Dinesh Gundu Rao and from the BJP Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, who was also the state BJP chief from 2012 to 2016. Joshi has been teamed up with Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwathnarayana, while BJP MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar is in-charge of Puducherry.
The BJP has given the key post of heading its national youth wing to Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, who has been visiting all the states going to polls. Meanwhile, former minister CT Ravi is the General Secretary in charge of Tamil Nadu, where his party is making a foray to capture power.
What's the criteria for giving these responsibilities? BJP's functionary Vaman Acharya, who was a Saha Prabhari (link between the Central and state leadership) for Maharashtra in 2015 said broadly it was on three parameters. “The central leadership will look at the oratory skills of the person or whether one has the capacity and ability to organise money and manpower or those who have held posts in the party earlier,” he said.
According to BJP sources, these appointments are also in a way a talent search on leadership requirements as it will not be possible for the party's state or the national presidents to do the pre-poll arrangements in election-bound states. The BJP started the trend of springing surprise candidates to head states, such as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath or Maharashtra's former CM Devendra Fadnavis or Goa's late CM Manohar Parikkar. Sometimes proximity to the central leadership also matters, they added.
Gundu Rao, who is AICC in- charge of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Goa said one reason for Karnataka leaders being given the responsibilities was because of the connect they have with the border states. “There are similarities in culture and language, the states are not far, all of which helps in decision making,” he explained.
According to him former minister HK Patil has been given the responsibility of Maharashtra as he hails from north Karnataka and has made a name in the cooperative sector, which is a movement there. Citing his own case, Gundu Rao said his experience in organisational matters as a former state unit president would stand in good stead in Tamil Nadu, where the Congress hopes to better its performance.
In another poll-bound state Kerala, where the Congress has high stakes considering its party leader Rahul Gandhi is an MP from there, two functionaries from Dakshina Kannada have been picked to oversee the election process with Parameshwara in-charge. Former legislator Ivan D'Souza and party functionary PV Mohan have been appointed as AICC secretaries.
Mohan was in charge of Khanapur and Bailhongal Assembly constituencies in Belagavi for two years and caught the high command's attention for the several training programmes he held for the workers. He has been put in charge of 60 Assembly constituencies in north Kerala, which is a LDF stronghold. “We have six Congress MLAs in the outgoing Assembly from this Malabar region and if some efforts are put in, the numbers can be doubled,” he added.
Apart from the appointments in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the Congress has given responsibility to some of its leaders in Goa. Congress party's senior MLC Prakash K Rathod and KPCC's Research Department chief and educationist Mansoor Khan are the observers for the digital membership drive and in charge of an overhaul of the booths and blocks committees there. Last year, Health Minister K Sudhakar was part of the team from Karnataka along with party's MLA Satish Reddy to draw up strategies for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls.