Poll positions

The BJP is combating anti-incumbency on multiple levels, while the Congress and JD(S) hope to lure voters with grand promises

- PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR

Eight years ago, Gorata-an inconspicuous village in Karnataka's Bidar district-woke up to a unique event. Hundreds of youth chanting "Vande Mataram" gathered at the village to mark BJP president Amit Shah laying the foundation stone for a martyrs' memorial. It honoured villagers killed by the nizam's men in 1948 for hoisting the Indian flag.

On March 26, Shah returned to Gorata, now as Union home minister. He hoisted the tricolour to a height of 103 feet to inaugurate the memorial and a 20ft statue of Vallabhbhai Patel alongside it. Shah promised to develop the place into a national memorial if the BJP retained power in Karnataka.

Shah sounding the poll bugle from Bidar, close to Hyderabad, is indicative of the BJP's future aspirations. He even said: "The Telangana government did not celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day. If the BJP comes to power there, we will." Retaining power in Karnataka is central to the BJP's plans to make electoral inroads in south India. But, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has been accused of corruption and targeted for "poor administration". The party is attempting to overcome the negativity by showcasing the achievements of its double-engine government and is using hindutva to consolidate votes in Malnad (region along the slopes of the Western Ghats) and Coastal Karnataka. Its social engineering has helped it garner support of smaller caste groups. The latest such initiative is the tweaking of the reservation matrix to benefit its core vote bank-Lingayats, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.