Can actor Sudeep bring Nayaka votes to BJP in coming polls?

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: Noted Sandalwood actor ‘Kichcha’ Sudeep’s decision to campaign for the BJP in the coming Assembly polls has come as a shot in the arm for the saffron party which is trying its best to return to power beating anti-incumbency.

For the BJP, Sudeep is a prize catch because of his fan following across the State. He has shared the silver screen with noted Bollywood actors and some of his movies have been translated into other Indian languages. Sudeep belongs to the backward Nayaka (Valmiki) community which is part of the Scheduled Tribe category.

According to an estimate, the total population of this community is 50 lakh to 60 lakh, and community voters are found in almost all constituencies. In Molkalmur constituency in Chitradurga district, the Valmiki community voters are around 1.5 lakh which is the highest concentration in the total 224 constituencies.

In each Assembly segment, this community has voters ranging from 5,000 to 15,000. Of the total 224 Assembly seats, 15 seats are reserved for the ST community and most of them are in Ballari and Chitradurga districts.

Highly placed sources told News Trail that the BJP has taken steps to woo almost all major communities in one way or the other. Reservation has been hiked for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Lingayats, and Vokkaligas, and a slew of programmes was announced for the Kuruba community.

In the 2008 Assembly polls, B.Sriramulu, a ST community leader, had ensured almost all ST seats in the State for the BJP. As his charisma has declined, the BJP is looking for a face from the Valmiki (Nayaka) community to woo voters and has zeroed in on Sudeep who is close to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.

Using this proximity, Bommai has convinced Sudeep to campaign for the BJP in some constituencies which are a tough nut to crack for the BJP. The opposition parties were caught off-guard by Sudeep’s move to support the BJP. They claim that the actor agreed to campaign for the saffron party following a threat by the BJP leaders of IT or ED raids on him.

The Congress Party hasd ridiculed the BJP for taking the help of an actor for the election campaign. Sudeep’s decision has no doubt boosted the morale of the BJP and they want him to take up the campaign in ST dominant constituencies and youth-majority seats to woo young voters.