– Mohammed Atherulla Shariff
Bengaluru: How Muslims used their votes to defeat the JDS-BJP alliance in Channapatna, Shiggaon and Sandur. All eyes are on the wisdom of Muslim voters. Debates are on in different platforms about Muslims’ tactical voting. Admiration goes to the second line local leaders’ hard work and team unity.
The Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Mahaz, a state level umbrella body of Muslims, which generally used to guide the voters after a thorough ground study, had not worked this time in the by-elections. It was purely the local Muslim leadership that played a crucial role in consolidating their votes causing a big surprise.
Among the constituencies, Channapatna has drawn significant attention, with Congress candidate CP Yogeshwara, former five-time MLA and recent BJP defector, competing against JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of HD Kumaraswamy and grandson of former PM HD Deve Gowda.
Channapatna recorded a major voter turnout with 88.81%, of 2,30,000 voters. CP Yogeshwara polled 112642 whereas Nikhil Kumaraswamy secured 87229. There were 21 independents apart from eight candidates from smaller parties including SDPI which got only 957 votes.
In 2018 and 2023 assembly elections, HD Kumaraswamy defeated Yogeshwara in this very seat. The seat became vacant after HDK won the Mandya parliamentary seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In Shiggaon, there are 2,26,000 votes. Bharath Bommai of BJP contested against Congress’s Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan in a direct contest. Pathan previously ran against Basavaraj Bommai in the 2023 assembly elections and lost with a margin of 35000 votes. But this time he defeated Bommai’s son Bharat by a margin of 13000 votes.
Both have substantial Muslim votes. Muslim voters at Channapatna constituency are 45,609 which is around 20.9%. Whereas in Shiggaon constituency Muslim votes are 58,689 which is around 27.2% as per voter list analysis.
Sandur is ST-reserved constituency and Muslim votes are 25,163 which is around 11.5%. E Annapoorna of Indian National Congress defeated the BJP rival Bangara Hanumantha, a close associate by mining baron Janardhan Reddy, by a margin of 9651 votes.
