Karnataka: Saffron Party Turns Red After Humiliating Defeat In Shiggaon Bypoll — How Congress Won The Bommai Bastion

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had a lot to celebrate after the resounding comeback in the recently concluded Maharashtra assembly elections, its state unit in Karnataka is facing the heat for failing to win even a single constituency in the by-polls held on the same day.

By-elections were held in Sandur (ST), Channapatna and Shiggaon assemblies in the state — each dominated by one party. Sandur, by the Congress which has cultivated the tribal votes for the longest time, Channapatna, a bastion of the Janata Dal (Secular) from where Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy was formerly elected from and finally, Shiggaon — home to the Bommai family who have not let go of it since 2008.

While Sandur remained the obvious challenge for the BJP, their candidate Bangaru Hanumanthu put up a strong fight against the might of heavyweights like state minister Santosh Lad, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and others who campaigned for T Annapoorna, the wife of Ballari's Member of Parliament (MP) Tukaram.

In Channapatna, C P Yogeshwar, a known turncoat, flipped sides and switched to the Congress after being upset with the BJP for denying him a ticket. For a third time, the JD(S) tried to relaunch Nikhil Kumaraswamy, HDK's son, into the political arena. Reports indicate that a good number of resources were burnt in the process, yet Nikhil's bad luck continues to haunt him despite his best efforts.

What came as an absolute shock was the humiliating defeat of former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai's son Bharath Bommai in Shiggaon — a fortress of the BJP and the Bommai family for almost two decades now.

The Congress candidate, Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan, was contesting for the third time from the seat and faced internal dissent. But the Congress was able to steal the victory from the BJP. With its mix of minority voters, Lingayats, Shiggaon has been a politically important seat. The Congress derives its support from the Lambani, Maratha, and Kuruba communities, while the BJP has banked on local work and development while enjoying the loyalty of some sects of the Lingayat community.

How did this happen?

While this was supposed to be a 'compromise' seat, sources suggest that the Congress high command at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) level asked the state unit to pull their socks and get to work. Having a task ahead of them, the Congress, under the leadership of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar assigned senior leader and minister Satish Jarkiholi and Zameer Ahmed Khan to campaign for Pathan.

Satish Jarkiholi was tasked with consolidating the Scheduled Tribe (ST) votes. The Panchamashalis and other smaller Lingayat community sects also reportedly turned against the BJP, owing to the anger against Basavaraj Bommai for allegedly promoting his son instead of recognising deserving party workers who have worked for decades. They voted en-masse for the Congress, boosting their prospects in what was considered an almost impossible victory.

Days before the by-polls in Karnataka, the BJP hyped up the issue of alleged land grabbing by Muslim Waqf boards which targeted farmers, and Pasmanda Muslims among others in northern Karnataka districts like Kalaburagi, Bidar and Vijayapura. The ripple effect was supposed to work in their favour by consolidating the Hindu votes for the party.

However, it worked against them and led to the near complete counter-consolidation of the Muslim votes in favour of the Congress party in places like Shiggaon.

Syed Azeempeer Khadri, a former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) disgruntled with the Congress leadership for denying him a ticket, was pacified. Senior Congress leaders met with Khadri and ensured he campaigned for Pathan in Shiggaon.

Shivanand Patil and Laxman Savadi, the latter being another Congress leader who switched sides from the BJP last year, targeted the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Lingayat votes for the Congress. A combination of micro-management and smart division of the major BJP vote banks worked in the Congress' favour.

With Yasir winning, Haveri has six MLAs belonging to the Congress, likely surprising even the party itself, which may not have thought the seat was so easily winnable. Considered a 'compromise' seat — where Congress would win Sandur and BJP would take Shiggaon — the tables turned dramatically. BJP’s Bangaru Hanumanthu, a relatively lesser-known face, came closer than any of his predecessors to challenging Congress’s stronghold in Sandur.

In Shiggaon, Bommai junior lost by a margin of 13,448 votes. According to the Congress sources, the leadership saw a ray of hope of winning the assembly after data was pulled out. During the 2024 general elections, Shiggaon gave Congress a lead by around 8,000 votes. This meant that they had a chance this time and there was palpable anger against the Bommai family on the ground.

With CM Siddaramaiah aiming to consolidate the Kuruba votes by canvassing based on the guarantee schemes provided to women and children, the party was able to ensure support from the backward sections, Muslims and Dalits — alongside some portions of the Lingayats leaving the BJP high and dry. He also spoke against Niranjanananda Puri Swami of the Kanaka Gurupeetha and asked Kurubas to ignore his advice to vote for the BJP.

This seems to have made an impact.

According to BJP sources, the absence of senior leaders like party chief B Y Vijayendra and B S Yediyurappa perhaps damaged Bharath's chances of success. Panchamashali leaders in the Haveri and Dharwad regions were also not taken into confidence by Bommai senior. Hence, they were justifiably angry.

Muslims, some of whom had been loyal to the Bommai family for years, also refused to cast their votes for them after the Hindutva push Bommai senior took last year, ahead of the assembly elections in the state. They were accepted by the minority communities to an extent because of their strategic silence maintained on communal issues, historically speaking.

The Congress last won the seat in 1994, marking a 30-year gap since their previous victory. Despite the anti-incumbency against senior Bommai in the 2023 polls, Pathan lost to him by a margin of 36,000 votes. This makes the defeat even more humiliating — this would not have been possible without major internal sabotage.