Perception that all Lingayats are with BJP is a myth, says B Eshwar Khandre

BENGALURU: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president B Eshwar Khandre is confident AICC president Rahul Gandhi’s decision to ally with the JD(S) for next month’s Lok Sabha elections will yield rich electoral dividends. He believes the failure of the Modi government, insecurity among minorities and the downtrodden and the Centre’s ill-conceived demonetisation decision will only aid the Congress-JD(S) alliance.Excerpts from an interaction:
What is your take on the elections in Karnataka?
The Congress-JD(S) coalition is sitting pretty and we will win a minimum of 20 seats. We will do exceedingly well in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region and Bengaluru which together have nine seats. The main reason for this is the failure of the Modi government and the coming together of secular forces.
But voters’ mood appears in favour of the BJP, especially post the Pulwama attack and the surgical strikes in Pakistan…
On the face of it, it looks like the BJP’s gimmicks are working. But how long will it last? In elections, unemployment, poverty, education should be issues that are debated. Whipping up communal and nationalistic feelings will not help. Look at the language of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Dialogues like ‘ghus ke maroonga’, ‘chun chun ke maroonga’ sound good if they are delivered by actor Dharmendra not the PM of a country. Have you ever seen a PM of any country speaking like this? People should think about this when they go out to vote.
But a number of youngsters have taken a liking to Modi and they feel Congress is responsible for whatever problems the country is facing today…
It’s true that the Congress has failed in convincing people about the party’s achievements and the BJP’s failures. Most youngsters do not read history so they believe the BJP’s falsehood. But this bubble will burst soon.
To improve your tally, you have to fare better in North Karnataka. But the allegiance of the Lingayat community, which dictates politics in most parts there, is with the BJP…
It’s a myth to say Lingayats are with the BJP. If that is the case, how is it that 16 Congress MLAs are Lingayats? The community is politically alert and they have always made good choices. It is only in 2008 that the community stood behind the BJP as there was a feeling that they were betrayed.
Is there a feeling among Lingayats that you denied BS Yeddyurappa the CM’s post by forming the government with the JD(S)?
No. In fact, the feeling among Lingayats about Yeddyurappa is very negative. His age, his efforts to dislodge the government, the audio tape issue, his statement on the Balakot airstrikes... All this has left a bad impression about him. I think he should honourably retire from politics.
To win 20 seats, you will have to snatch at least 10 seats from BJP…
As of now we will win in Bidar, Bagalkot, Bengaluru North, Bengaluru South, Bengaluru Central, Mysuru and Koppal. As campaigning progresses, the situation will turn favourable for the alliance.
Mallikarjun Kharge seems to be facing a tough challenge from Umesh Jadhav in Kalaburagi…
Kharge will win comfortably. There is such talk and such situations during every election, but in the end, people vote for development. Jadhav has made a mistake by joining the BJP. The saffron party has never done good things for party hoppers. I told him not to trust the BJP, but he did not listen.