“Just like how Yogi ji finished off goonda raj in UP it will be finished here as well this time,” Manikanta Rathod, the BJP candidate for the Chittapur seat in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi region snarled at a poll meeting on April 30 in Wadi in the Chittapur constituency, with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in attendance. “Those who are involved in goondagiri over here, some Congress people, will be taught a lesson.”
An aggressive BJP campaign with a Hindutva tilt — and endorsement from the likes of Adityanath — in a region that abounds with Buddhist shrines and the imagery of Dr B R Ambedkar has set out to unnerve Priyank Kharge, the two-term Congress MLA from Chittapur and the son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The Kharges are members of the Scheduled Caste (Right) Holeya group and have consistently promoted the ideals of the Buddha and Dr Ambedkar.
Rathod is a businessman with interests in rice mills, godowns and school education who has 41 criminal cases against him, as well as Rs 44 crore in wealth (including that of his spouse), according to his poll affidavit. The 26-year-old has queered the pitch for Priyank, 44, and brought back memories of the Congress’s narrow win in the Scheduled Caste (SC)-reserved seat in 2018.
Rathod is a member of the Banjara community, which is also classified as SC in Karnataka, and has no political experience. The BJP top brass is said to have handpicked him in consultation with regional leaders, including MP Umesh Jadhav who defeated Kharge in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Gulbarga.
The aggressive Hindutva-centred poll campaign against Priyank in Chittapur is widely seen as retaliation for his role as the Congress spokesperson and his vocal opposition of late to Hindutva and its icons such as V D Savarkar.
Many in Chittapur are surprised that the BJP has chosen Rathod, who has no political experience and a litany of criminal cases, to take on the Congress president’s son.
“This is a region where there has been a lot of peace and amity under the Kharges. There may have been cases of SC-ST atrocities in the past over here, but that has now reduced. The BJP candidate, who is a rowdy, has continued to behave like a rowdy after being chosen as a candidate for the MLA polls. The speeches of the candidate have been inappropriate for a person hoping to be an MLA. Open threats to rivals are unbecoming of a leader. He has yet to mature as a politician. We wonder on what basis he was chosen,” saidChittapur village panchayat worker M Devendra.
Rathod, whose father Narendra is a businessman, emerged in the region out of the blue about two years ago after the death of former BJP MLA Valmiki Naik to distribute Covid relief material to the poor. He used whatever opposition exists against Priyank Kharge in the region to build a base for himself. The 26-year-old keeps harping about a campaign he had conducted in the region, using posters that read “PK Missing”, to highlight the MLA’s absence from the constituency and his presence in Bengaluru.
As per Rathod’s poll affidavit, there are 41 criminal cases against him, including many related to the alleged siphoning of food material meant for anganwadi schools in Kalaburagi. For Priyank, these accusations have been handy ammunition with which to target Rathod on the poll trail. “We are not saying he stole rice meant for children. We are not saying he stole milk powder. It is the BJP government itself that has brought these cases against him,” Priyank said at a recent meeting in Chittapur. “Fielding a candidate with a large number of cases against him is an insult to the people.”
He added, “This is a different kind of election. Earlier, there was no such atmosphere in this region. In the intoxication of power, they (BJP) think votes can be swayed by money.”
Rathod has claimed that the Congress is behind the list of cases against him. “They have prepared the list of crimes against me. Even I did not know the number of cases filed against me. Since they compiled the information, it became easy for me to file the election declaration,” the BJP candidate told the media a few days ago.
“Manikanta Rathod may only be 26 years old, but he is a mature politician and thinks like a 60-year-old. He has a balanced mind. You hear people speak in favour of the Congress candidate only because he is entrenched,” said Inamdar A, a supporter of the BJP leader. “He can speak 10 languages, has a sharp mind and is also wealthy. Kharge has been asking supporters to file FIRs against rivals. Is that not politics of threat?”
Inamdar alleged that government officials had framed the BJP candidate in the case of siphoning off food meant for children in government facilities.
While top BJP leaders such as Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were initially slated to campaign for Manikanta, the plans were later shelved after the cases against him were revealed by his election affidavit, said locals.
When Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai recently campaigned for Rathod in Chittapur, the Congress said it felt sorry for the CM. “He is coming to campaign in Chittapur for the BJP candidate. He now has to convince people to vote for a person who has been convicted of stealing milk powder from anganwadis meant for undernourished children. What a fall from grace,” Priyank said in a social media message.
The political tussle in Chittapur came to a head on Saturday after the Congress filed a police complaint against Rathod in Bengaluru over an audio recording allegedly featuring threats made against the Kharges during a telephone conversation with a party worker over the issue of being maligned for his poll affidavit.
The aggressive campaign has featured characters such as Siddalinga Swamy, the local leader of the Sri Rama Sene rightwing group. Some locals, however, said Priyank Kharge was also at fault for the rise of Rathod. “It is very difficult to meet him with our requests because the people around him do not allow access to him,” said Nazir Khan, an auto-driver in Chittapur.
“Priyank Kharge was very arrogant in his first term and would shout at people. He is more mellow this time around after his narrow win (by 4,393 votes) in 2018. His attitude cost his father the Lok Sabha seat. He is on better ground after the return of Baburao Chinchansur (who recently returned to the Congress from the BJP),” said Sharanappa, a Chittapur resident. According to Sharanappa and other residents, the Congress has a big fight on its hand on account of the concerted BJP attempt to depose the MLA.
Priyank first contested Chittapur in 2009 in a bypoll after his father was elected to Parliament. He lost to the BJP’s Valmiki Naik by less than 2,000 votes. In 2013, he defeated Naik by over 30,000 votes and again in 2018. Naik died in 2021 at the age of 69.
“There is a close fight in the constituency between the Congress and the BJP. If Valmiki Naik, who lost the polls narrowly in 2018, were around, the BJP would have been favourites to win the seat,” said gram panchayat worker Devendra.
“The BJP candidate is a first-timer. He has not even been a councillor but he is putting up a fight,” said his friend Sharanappa.
Chittapur past results
2008 – Mallikarjun Kharge INC (52.16%); Valmiki Naik BJP (33.9%)
2009 (bypoll) – Valmiki Naik BJP (47.42%); Priyank Kharge INC (45.26%)
2013 – Priyank Kharge INC (56.08%); Valmiki Naik BJP (30.87%)
2018 – Priyank Kharge INC (49.65%); Valmiki Naik BJP (46.53%)