JD(S) all out to regain Muslim support

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: In the lead up to the May 10 Assembly elections, JD(S) is of the opinion that it has improved its standing among Muslim voters, especially in the Old Mysuru region. The party believes that it suffered a couple of setbacks among Muslims in the past two decades and has sought to undo the damage.

JD(S) poll strategists hold that the party had been seen favourably by Muslims but their reputation took a hit when JD(S) legislature party leader HD Kumaraswamy quit the Dharam Singh-led coalition government in 2005 and supported the BJP for his maiden and brief chief ministerial term. Secondly, Congress bigwig Rahul Gandhi had come down to former Prime Minister HD Devegowda’s home turf Hassan in March 2018 and famously claimed that JD(S) was the B-team of BJP, which appears to have caused many Muslims to go over to the Grand Old Party.

The result being that the regional outfit lost by a margin of anywhere between 200 to 3,000 votes in 10 seats, but ended up with a tally of 37 regardless. Analysis by party strategists found that the waning support from Muslims had cost them dear. Kumaraswamy and co affirmed the findings and tried to make amends in a few ways. Firstly, they welcomed CM Ibrahim into the party after he fell out with the Congress and made him JD(S) state president.

The former chief minister has also repeatedly emphasised the importance of defeating BJP in public, asking party workers to ensure a Congress victory where they don’t stand a chance. JD(S) candidate BH Mahabari from Vijayapura had retired from the race citing the same reason. Kumaraswamy has also called on Muslims to engage in “smart voting” backing JD(S) candidates where they are strong and Congress contenders in other places. He held that consolidation of Muslim voters in favour of Congress across the board wasn’t necessarily good.

Manifesto promises relief Recently, JD(S) released its manifesto, which declares that Karnataka should be ‘sarva janangada shantiya tota’ (a garden of peace for all communities) as envisioned by celebrated Kannada poet Kuvempu. For that, he said his party would reinstate the four per cent quota for Muslims under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) 2B subcategory that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had sought to abolish.

However, he has failed as the Supreme Court stayed the Government Order (GO) pertaining to the same. Bommai and his cabinet had planned on moving Muslims to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category, which offers a 10 per cent quota but will pit the marginalised minority against dominant upper castes.

Kumaraswamy also promised to expedite cases involving those accused of crimes of a communal nature. The manifesto also promises five per cent budgetary allocations for religious minorities who account for about 20 per cent of the population.