BJP no longer fringe player in Old Mysuru region: CT Ravi

BENGALURU: BJP national general secretary CT Ravi believes the new reservation policy of Karnataka government is a masterstroke as it has kept everyone happy, while leaving Congress in a dilemma over the issue of scrapped quota for Muslims. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, is hearing a petition against the rejigged reservation policy on Tuesday, even as the government has given an undertaking not to implement the new quota until Monday.

In an interview with STOI, Ravi says Congress is at a loss as it doesn't know whether to support the new policy's beneficiaries, such as Vokkaligas and Lingayats, or stand by Muslims. Excerpts:

BJP's return to power hinges on its performance in Old Mysuru region. What's the strategy for these 61 seats?

Over the last three-four years, BJP has been nurturing its cadre in 50 seats (in the region). Now, with Mandya independent MP Sumalatha joining hands with us and other political leaders also joining us in 2019, we are no longer on the fringes here. The last few cabinet meetings saw granting of interest-free loans up to Rs 5 lakh for farmers and Rs 5 as incentive for one litre of milk. There was also the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway inauguration. With 70-75% of people in every constituency being beneficiaries of one or the other central government scheme, we are confident of converting these advantages into seats for BJP.

How's the campaign going?

Even before the polls were announced, BJP had a four-part campaign: Two for reaching out to the cadre and two outreach programmes for voters. However, just like it often happens in the slog overs in cricket, our biggest and most decisive measure taken ahead of the polls is the new reservations policy. Though they (opposition) did try to create confusion, it [the new quota] has kept all sections of the society happy. The policy has also dented the Congress campaign by putting it in a spot over whether to support the Muslims, whose quota has been scrapped, or stand by the Veerashaiva Lingayats and Vokkaligas, who have benefited from the 2% additional quota each.

How will the party deal with rebels and disappointed aspirants?

Our cadre is broadly divided into three categories. One based on our ideology, the second aligned with us due to political reasons and the third, followers of a particular leader. BJP has the advantage of having a core ideology cadre in maximum numbers. It is a positive vote bank. While there are some ground-level concerns, we will try to placate our rebels, convince them and give them appropriate opportunity and space elsewhere.

Hindutva has been the core agenda of BJP. Will it become the driving force for the polls?

Our main focus during campaigning will be development. For us, Hindutva is synonymous with nationalism and there is no confusion on this. It is and will be our commitment. We will not use it for reaping political benefits.

Unlike in 2008 and 2018, there is no CM face this time. Will Basavaraj Bommai be the CM?

Our national and state leaderships have already said that the elections will be fought under the joint leadership of BS Yediyurappa and CM Basavaraj Bommai. But our focus is on securing a majority. We will decide the rest later.

There has been a series of corruption allegations against the BJP govt ...

Congress, in order to create a negative narrative about the BJP, used toolkit politics to levy 40% commission allegations against our government. But they have not been able to provide proof in a single case. They had all possible avenues to file their grievances, including the strong Lokayukta, but never submitted proof. However, there is enough evidence to prove that Congress will use Karnataka as an ATM; some of their leaders even went to jail and are out on bail in several corruption cases.

There's speculation that you may find the going tough in Chikkamagalur seat?

This has been the speculation since 2008. I shall get a better lead than the 26,313 margin I won by in 2018.