NDA has no right to seek Muslim votes, DKS tells HDK's son Nikhil

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress Chief DK Shivakumar hit out at JD(S) youth wing state president Nikhil Kumaraswamy for insinuating that Muslims had abandoned him in the Channapatna by-poll despite his party standing for their rights. On Saturday, Nikhil had lost the Channapatna byelection to Congress candidate CP Yogeshwar by upwards of 25,000 votes. Following the loss, the JD(S) man had made multiple statements that a “particular community” had favoured Congress over him despite the regional outfit’s patriarch HD Devegowda implementing reservation for them, apart from other policies benefiting minorities.

Shivakumar told mediapersons at Vidhana Soudha on Monday that the comments were imprudent. “How will Muslim’s support if Kumaraswamy joins hands with the BJP. The NDA (National Democratic Alliance) hasn’t taken Muslims into confidence. Does the NDA give tickets to Muslims? They have even taken away the reservation for Muslims. They don’t have any moral right to seek Muslim votes,” he said. The by-election was characterized by a re-orientation as many Muslims, who had helped elect JD(S) bigwig HD Kumaraswamy as the Channapatna MLA in 2018 and 2023 appear to have switched to Congress this time. Yogeshwar had contested on the BJP symbol both times. However, the Kumaraswamy- led JD(S) tied up with the BJP in September 2023. This caused distrust among Muslim voters as the saffron party is seen as hostile to the community. Some of Kumaraswamy’s comments about not wanting Muslim votes were played up by the likes of Housing Minister Zameer Ahmed during the campaign as well.

Shivakumar also hit back at the Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in the Assembly R Ashok that he wasn’t a Vokkaliga mass leader just because Congress won Channapatna. “I haven’t claimed to be a leader. Let him say how many votes he got in Kanakapura contesting as a sitting minister,” he asked.

BJP, JD(S) workers jumping ship: DKS The Karnataka Congress Chief also claimed that BJP and JD(S) workers were leaving their parties in large numbers to join the Congress. “Look at the voting numbers in the last Assembly elections (in Channapatna) and this byelection. As many as 50,000 votes have changed hands in Shiggavi. The Congress candidate in Channapatna had secured 15,000 votes in the last election but that number has gone up to 1.12 lakh votes this time.

How can such a tectonic shift happen without the support of BJP and JDS voters?” Shivakumar asked. The margin in Channapatna in particular was surprising since Yogeshwar, contesting on a BJP ticket in 2023 had tallied 80,677 votes and lost to Kumaraswamy’s 96,592 by upwards of 15,000. However, on Saturday, Yogeshwar polled 1,12,642 votes against Nikhil’s 87,229, winning by more than 25,000 votes.