HOPE FLOATS

The JD(S) expects the BJP to suffer from anti-incumbency and the Congress from infighting even as it works hard to retain its Vokkaliga strongholds

- PRATHIMA NANDAKUMAR

THE JANATA DAL (Secular)’s election rally Pancharatna Yatre, which has promised reforms in five crucial sectors—education, health, agriculture, employment and housing—completed 50 days recently. While the yatra is drawing huge crowds, the ‘Mission 123’ roadmap of the JD(S), envisaging a clear majority for the party in the assembly elections, seems too ambitious. The JD(S) got only 37 seats in the 224-member assembly in 2018 and its highest tally was 58, which it won in 2004. Still, the JD(S) was in power twice, with H.D. Kumaraswamy serving as chief minister in two coalition governments–in 2006 and 2018, despite the party finishing third.

The oldest surviving regional party in Karnataka, the JD(S), nurtured by former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, continues to be a force to reckon with, especially in the Vokkaliga heartland of Old Mysuru. In 2018, the party won 27 of 59 seats in the region, although it failed to attract urban voters. It is facing multiple challenges this time. The Congress has elevated Vokkaliga strongman D.K. Shivakumar as its state chief and the BJP is focusing on the Old Mysuru region. The party is also troubled by the mass exodus of leaders, while its ‘family-centric’ politics is another major challenge.