What Yogeshwar departure from BJP tells us about NDA faultlines

NT Bengaluru: Five-time MLA CP Yogeshwar leaving the BJP and joining the Congress to contest as their Channapatna by-election candidate has laid bare an uncomfortable truth for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners. Yogeshwar spoke frankly during his introductory press conference with the Congress on Wednesday when he claimed JD(S) was “trampling BJP’s Vokkaliga leaders”. This is how the saffron party’s Vokkaliga functionaries in the Old Mysuru region heartland feel, but won’t say it in public. Yogeshwar resigned as MLC, quit BJP and then switched parties because he was denied the Channapatna ticket.

JD(S) wary of ceding space: The JD(S) insists BJP was treating them like a junior partner by trying to deny them Channapatna, a seat they won twice in a row. Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy wrested the seat from Yogeshwar in 2018 and retained it in 2023. On the BJP high command’s insistence, Kumaraswamy contested from the Mandya Lok Sabha segment and won, following which he was rewarded with a Union Ministry. Therefore, he vacated Channapatna. Yogeshwar wanted to regain his lost bastion with JD(S) help but to no avail. Kumaraswamy instead gave the ticket to his son Nikhil, who had been hesitant to contest but yielded to party pressure.

Nikhil has lost twice before, to Sumalatha Ambareesh from the Mandya Parliamentary seat in 2019 and to Congressman NA Iqbal Hussain from Ramanagar Assembly segment in 2023. Moreover, JD(S) contested only three of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, winning two. The regional outfit also convinced party patriarch HD Devegowda’s son-in-law Dr CN Manjunath to contest Bangalore Rural on a BJP ticket. He won thanks to the JD(S) because the saffron party had limited presence in the seat.

Saffron Vokkaliga leaders unhappy: On the other hand, BJP’s Vokkaliga leaders say since the JD(S) is mostly representing the community in the NDA, they face a dubious future. “After the JD(S) joined us and we became NDA, there wasn’t a favourable situation for me and given the political developments taking place, I thought I may face more troubles. So I figured it wasn’t worth it and joined the Congress,” Yogeshwar said.