Kolar/Channapatna, Karnataka: The Congress government under chief minister Siddaramaiah is hoping to consolidate the voter base of financially weaker sections to return to power for a second consecutive term on the back of populist schemes to provide subsidized rice and toor dal to people below the poverty line.

The Congress is hoping that 17% Dalits, 11% Muslims and 8% Kurubas, the community to which Siddaramaiah belongs, would be instrumental in bringing the party back to power in Karnataka.

“The state government has worked for the poor in the last five years. We are daily wage labourers and do not have enough money but the chief minister has provided rice and toor dal to us at subsidized rates. We get 7kg of rice and 1kg dal per person every month. We never face any problem in getting get food items," said M. Nagappa, a 67-year-old farm labourer of Kolar district. About 30% of the people of the district, which is adjacent to state capital Bengaluru, are Dalits. This is the highest concentration of Dalits in the state.

The focus of the state government on social welfare schemes is evident as 24% of the state budget allocation plan is targeted at the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The social engineering strategy of bringing together Dalits, Muslims and other backward classes, which is being adopted by Siddaramaiah, has been a tested formula for the Congress in the past. Traditionally, the acronym for the three communities— Muslims, OBCs and Dalit — is AHINDA in Kannada.

“We want peace in the state. We fear there would be communal tension if the Congress is not in power. Peace is the biggest issue for minorities," said Zulfikar Ali Khan, 27-year-old owner of a provision store in Channapatna constituency.

With a head start of around 36% voters, the Congress leadership is confident of a good show against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has consistently defeated Congress in all state election since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress won 122 seats with a vote share of 36.5% votes in the 2013 assembly polls. The vote share of Congress was 34.7% in 2008 when the party won 80 seats.

The political strategy of the Congress has worked so far. However, on the flip side, the plan has managed to irk two major communities, Lingayats and Vokkaligas, who have traditionally played a dominant role in state politics.

“We want a government that is similar to the one at the centre. There is no use of having different governments at the centre and in the state. This is the problem with Karnataka," said Murli Kumar, a 40-year-old owner of a provision store in Channapatna.

Political analysts feel that all three political parties —the BJP, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular)— are indulging in caste politics in the state.

“The Congress party has the support of Dalits, Muslims and a section of OBCs because these communities have benefitted from the social schemes of the state government. Vokkaligas want to regain lost political power and are thus backing a party. The Lingayats are doing the same. All three political parties are banking on caste alliances in the elections. The three prominent leaders — Siddaramaiah, BS Yeddyurappa and HD Kumaraswamy — do not openly talk about caste but they silently work to consolidate their voter base," said Muzaffar Assadi, former professor at Mysore University.

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