‘Brahmin CM’: Is BJP flying a kite, thinking out of the box, or burning its bridges in Karnataka?

Making sense of the plotting, scheming and backstabbing in ticket distribution

At least three commentators in Kannada newspapers believe that BJP may be looking to install a Brahmin as the next chief minister of Karnataka if the party wins a majority or comes close to forming a government in the May 10 elections.

R.T. Vittal Murthy writing in Andolana, and Dinesh Amin Mattoo and Y.G. Jagadish writing in Praja Vani, aver that by eliminating or sidelining potential contenders from other castes, BJP is setting the stage for a ‘Brahmin CM’—the first after R. Gundu Rao in 1980 and Ramakrishna Hegde in 1983.

There are some visible blood stains on the carpet to back the speculation.

#Former chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa, a Lingayat, has ostensibly “retired” from electoral politics having ascended the throne thrice and crossing the age of 75.

#Two other Lingayats, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi, have jumped to the Congress after being denied a ticket in the 2023 elections.

#Former deputy chief minister K.S. Eshwarappa, a Kuruba, suddenly announced retirement from politics after he was told he couldn’t contest from a seat he was diligently nursing.

#Another former deputy chief minister R. Ashok, a Vokkaliga, has been shackled and fielded from two constituencies. A defeat outside his pocketborough will be seen as a sign of his limited popularity.

#The same ploy has been employed with six-time MLA V. Somanna, a Lingayat. Almost on his way out of the party, he has been fielded in a second seat, much against his wishes and to some opposition from local BJP. A defeat is a black mark.

All this could just be a coincidence, of course, but what is the likelihood of that possibility in an all-important election before the 2024 general election, with other crucial states along the way?

***

Behind all this skulduggery, the three analysts see the fingerprints of two culprits: Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi, a Brahmin, and BJP organising secretary B.L. Santhosh—the RSS’s link with the party—also a Brahmin.

The Delhi-based duo, who played a key role in the distribution of BJP tickets, goes the argument, have contrived to create the conditions for a Brahmin, i.e. one of them. to gain the upper hand if push comes to shove at the BJP Legislature Party after the election results are declared on May 13.

First, by eliminating contenders from other castes even before the race has begun. And second, by jostling out old warhorses and handing out tickets to rank newcomers (62 by one count) on one pretext or the other.

In other words, they have bought the loyalty of potential legislators in advance to pave the way for them at the BJPLP.

Possible?

To be sure, neither Pralhad Joshi nor B.L. Santhosh is in the election fray. But, like good chess players, so goes the reading, they appear to be thinking several moves ahead. In layman’s terms, they are counting the chickens before the eggs are hatched.

***

Writes Vittala Murthy in Andolana:

“These developments lend weight to former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s claim several weeks ago that the RSS was planning to make a ‘Peshwa Brahmin’ the CM of Karnataka.”

Pralhad Joshi is a Deshastha Brahmin from Dharwad.

☝🏿Kumaraswamy clearly had an inkling of the shape of things to come in the BJP and was quick to frame it not just as a Brahmin vs non-Brahmin debate, but as a North Karnataka Brahmins vs South Karnataka Brahmins issue—a clear choice between treachery and trust.

Kumaraswamy linked Pralhad Joshi’s brand of Brahmins with the lineage of Mahatma Gandhi’s killers—and held them responsible for destroying a temple at Shringeri. (see video)

To be sure, Brahmins comprise a tiny section of a large state like Karnataka, no more than 3% of an estimated 7 crore population, probably less. But like Brahmins elsewhere, they command an influence disproportionate to their size.

BJP’s “Gateway to the South”, as the party calls Karnataka, has contributed at least two sarsanghchalaks to the RSS, H.V. Seshadri and K.S. Sudarshan, obviously both Brahmins.

A third, Dattatreya Hosabale, is now second-in-command to Mohan Bhagwat. He is perceived as being Narendra Modi’s man, who will likely take over when the RSS turns 100 in two years’ time.

Which is why, the talk of a ‘Brahmin CM’ in Karnataka has gained so much traction and set so many tongues wagging.

Which is also why Dinesh Amin Mattoo is surprised. In fact, he calls it the “first big mistake” made by the Modi-Shah duo in their electoral calculations.

The veteran political watcher, who served as Congress chief minister Siddaramaiah’s advisor, writes in Praja Vani that all this talk of a ‘Brahmin CM’ runs counter to the model Modi-Shah have pursued to expand the BJP’s base beyond its ‘Brahmin-Bania’ straitjacket.

“The late Union minister Ananth Kumar, who tried to fill in the shoes of Ramakrishna Hegde as a Brahmin leader, was pragmatic enough to build bridges with Lingayats and Vokkaligas. But Joshi and Santhosh lack both the ability and the credibility. They are merely leaders of their community and seen as such by leaders of other communities,” writes Mattoo.

Even today Yediyurappa, with whom Ananth Kumar worked closely in building the BJP in Karnataka, is capable of rising above his RSS upbringing and shakha training to speak a placatory language, a skill Joshi and Santhosh demonstrably lack judging.👇🏿

***

So, why has BJP allowed the revealed its ‘Brahmin CM’ card so early in the game when it runs the risk of rubbing other, much bigger communities on the wrong side, when it could possibly flop bigtime at the box office?

Writing in Praja Vani, Y.G. Jagadish recalls how talk of Ananth Kumar aspiring to be a ‘Brahmin CM’ in 2003 resulted in a blowback from Lingayats, who felt threatened.

“Ananth Kumar’s determined effort to get the BJP over the line was seen by Lingayat leaders as an attempt to stomp them out. Vijay Sankeshwar, a three-time BJP MP from Dharwad, left the party and formed his own. Ayanur Manjunath went and joined the Janata Party,” writes Jagadish.

For all of Ananth Kumar’s exertions, BJP ended up with 79 seats in a house of 224. Eventually, an alliance with the Vokkaliga-dominated Janata Dal (Secular) emerged.

Could that precisely be the intent of the Joshi-Santhosh duo: to break the hold of any one community or any one leader on the BJP in Karnataka i.e. B.S. Yediyurappa of the Lingayat community?

Sounds too clever by half? Add “2AB”.

By this reading, expanding the base of the BJP beyond the Lingayats becomes an imperative. But is the route to hint at a ‘Brahmin CM’? Already, the BJP effort to woo Vokkaligas by pitting them against Muslims as the killers of Tipu Sultan has backfired.

***

So, 20 years after Ananth Kumar, is it action replay, with the sidelining and exit of influential Lingayat, Vokkaliga, Kuruba and Dalit leaders by M/s Joshi, Santhosh & Co, and with all the buzz around a ‘Brahmin CM’?

On the other hand, in the age of ‘Operation Kamala’, is the BJP treating #KarnatakaElections2023 merely as an election it can lose only for a while before it returns to power willy-nilly on its own terms—with a Brahmin at the helm.

There is yet a third possibility. With Narendra Modi being the party’s sole vote-catcher, could a ‘Brahmin CM’ be just optics, pure kite-flying? A nudge from Joshi and Santhosh for the PM to name someone from the community against all odds, like Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra. But, before the first ball is bowled?