Why Karnataka BJP lost out in Modi's Game of Thrones

Has Karnataka gained with Prime Minister Modi’s Cabinet expansion? On the contrary, one would say it has lost more.

 

Ananth Kumar was given additional responsibility since he achieved success with his fertilisers portfolio. But Sadananda Gowda, the minister of state for Law, was dropped from his position. GM Siddeshwara was dropped as well. The one significant addition was Ramesh Jigajinagi, the long-standing Vijayapura MP.

 

The Parliamentary Affairs ministry, which was held by Venkaiah Naidu has been given to Ananth Kumar, and the Ministry of Stastitics and Programme Implementation -- not considered as a significant profile -- has been given to Sadananda Gowda.

 

Compared with Congress MPs from Karnataka, their BJP counterparts have not been fortunate at the Delhi Durbars. The NDA seems to have continued its bargain and stint attitude in this reshuffling of the cabinet too. During the UPA government, seven MPs were elected, out of which five were given ministerial berths. On the other hand, Karnataka, which is the prime state for the BJP in the South, was not given its due, is is mostly perceived. 

 

In the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, 16 BJP MPs were elected, out of which only 2 MPs were selected for ministerial positions in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. In the 1999 Lok Sabha elections, nine BJP MPs were elected, out of which, again, only two MPs were selected as ministers. 

 

In the last 2014 Lok Sabha elections, 17 BJP MPs were elected from the state, but only three were chosen for ministerial positions. Of course, the prominent Railways ministry was given to Karnataka MP Sadananda Gowda.

 

But he could not measure up in his achievements there and it was taken back from him. Ananth Kumar and Siddeshwara were given ministries of Fertilisers and Public Industries respectively. Currently, Ramesh Jigajinagi has taken the place of Siddeshwara. So it all adds up to some very disappointing numbers.

 

Of course, with the selection of Jigajinagi, the caste card also played an important role, as it seems to have played throughout Modi’s selection of his new ministers. GM Siddeshwara is a powerful Lingayat leader and his replacement Jigajinagi is from a Scheduled Tribe-reserved constituency.

 

It was commonly believed that the Narendra Modi cabinet is poor in assessing caste equations. But now, Modi has sought to dispel the notion.

 

The suicide of the Hyderabad student Rohit Vemula and the government’s handling of it had brought on a negative image to Modi government and it was extensively propagated that this government is anti-Dalit.

 

Now, having added three Dalit leaders and three ST leaders into his cabinet Modi is trying to send a message that his government has concerns for Dalits too.

 

Political analysts opine that Modi has chosen Dalit leaders such as Krishna Raj, MP of Shahajanpur, UP, Jaswanth Singh Bhabhor, MP of Dahod, Ajay Tamta of Uttarakhand and Faggan Singh of Madhya Pradesh for his cabinet with an intention of winning the votes in the upcoming state elections which are scheduled next year. The inclusion of Ramdas Athawale is also intended towards Mumbai municipality elections which are scheduled to be held in the next year.

 

In order to gain confidence among the Patel community in Gujarat, Modi has included Purushotham Rupala and Mansukh Mandaviya into his cabinet.

 

Word has it that the Maratha community of Maharashtra is not happy with the Brahmin CM Devendra Fadnavis. It is believed that to appease the Maratha community, he has chosen Subhash Ramarao Bhamre, MP of Dhule.

 

And after balancing the caste equation, Modi and Amit Shah, in order to endorse good governance, have included MJ Akbar, senior journalist, SS Ahluvalia, MP of Darjeeling and senior leader, Anil Dave, environmentalist, Arjun Ram Meghwal, PP Chowdhary, Supreme Court advocate, and agriculturist RC Chowdhary.