BANGALORE: The ruling Bhartiya Janata Party's moves over the past one week clearly indicate a tactical and concerted attempt to target former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and his sons' status as Vokkaliga leaders.
In the process, the BJP, which has been identified with the other dominant caste, the Lingayats, due to the overwhelming support it received from the community in the last assembly elections, is out to prove that it too has a considerable hold among the Vokkaligas.
Any claim to represent Lingayats and Vokkaligas would also help the BJP outgrow attempts to brand it as a single caste party and prove its pan-Karnataka moorings.
In fact, the BJP had already managed to enlist the support of several Vokkaliga leaders like Bachche Gowda and G T Deve Gowda who joined the saffron party on the eve of the assembly elections.
Though the state unit of the party is headed by a Vokkaliga, Sadananda Gowda, and two other leaders from the community R Ashok and Ramachandra Gowda are its leading lights, the widely prevailing belief is that Vokkaligas are inimical to the BJP.
After consolidating itself in power and sweeping the recent council byelections, the BJP has decided to go in for the kill and is targeting Deve Gowda and his sons.
The party began by targeting H D Revanna as KMF chief. Later it trained its guns on Gowda Senior himself. BJP's Vokkaliga top guns unleashed a frontal attack on Gowda and sons. Bachche Gowda even described Deve Gowda as a venomous snake.
With byelections to eight assembly seats round the corner, the BJP now sees a chance to emerge as a Vokkaliga party. It remains to be seen how Deve Gowda and his sons hit back.
