The Humble Farmer Is Humbler, But Its Just Not Working

Former Prime Minister Hardanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda, who rode on the wave of Vokkaliga pride to the posts of chief minister and prime minister in 1994 and 1996, today finds that the wave has ebbed away to his disadvantage.

In the 1994 state assembly election, a rare sense of unity among the Vokkaligas coupled with Ramakrishna Hegdes strident campaigning among the Ligayats catapulted Gowda to chief ministership and then to the top political post in the country within the next 30 months. Hegde had openly said that Gowda would be the Chief Minister if Janata Dal wins, and had himself withdrawn from the race to remove any apperheansions.

 

The idea was to have a Vokkaliga as Chief Minister after late Kengal Hanumantaiah, the architect of the grandiose Vidhana Soudha. The fact that for almost 20 years the community could not have its man in the high office united the community. The Vokkaligas single-handedly determine the fate of candidates in as many as nine Lok Sabha constituencies in the old Mysore area. The party swept back to power and Gowda occupied the chief ministership.

The sentiments ruled until the 1996 Lok Sabha polls. The Janata Dal campaigned that Gowda would lose his chair if the party failed to get a good number of seats. Vokkaligas again rallied behind Gowda to send eight from the old Mysore area, and an equal number from other parts of the state where Hegde held sway.

Today, Gowda does not look as confident, as he did in 1994 and 1996. In an apparent bid to keep the flock together, he even decided to enter the fray from Hassan, from where he had won by a measly 3191 votes as the Samajwadi Janata Party nominee in 1991 with Hegdes help. The idea was to ensure Vokkaligas remain united behind him. But the emotive issue of Vokkaliga pride has give way to the self-respect of Kannadigas a la NTR`s Telugu pride.

Gowda remains to date the tallest leader of the community. But much water has flown down the Cauvery since 1994 to make the community look elsewhere.Asks G.Puttaswamy Gowda , a friend-turned-foe of the former Prime Minister: It was okay once. It happened second time too. Third time he is in for a rude shock.

In fact Gowda`s campaign meeting at Srirangapatna, organised for his own handpicked cine star Ambareesh in Mandya, was disrupted by Vokkaligas. The crowd bluntly told Gowda: We are here to hear Ambareesh not you. Gowda left the scene abruptly, asking them to vote for Ambareesh, but the crowd ranscaked the pandal and broke chairs as the star failed to turn up. At Pandavapura in the Mandya constituency, people openly assured Ambareesh that they do not mind if Gowda, loses but they will get Ambareesh elected. The ire against Gowda is due to the fact that Ambareesh was defeated in the assembly bypoll from Ramanagaram, a seat vacated by Gowda.

The story is repeated in most parts of the Vokkaliga heartland this correspondent traversed through. At Kanakapura, despite Gowda`s hectic campaigning, son H.D.Kumaraswamy is facing an uphill task in retaining the seat. The other Vokkaliga leader, Prem Chandra Sagar of the Congress is marching ahead leaving behind a formidable BJP-Lokshakti nominee , M.Sreenivas, also a Vokkaliga, behind.

In Chickmagalur, the lone Vokkaliga in the field is B.L.Shankar of the Janata Dal. He is facing problems holding on to the seat as former Chief minister M.Veerappa Moily and BJP`s Srikantappa appear to have forged ahead. Even in Mysore, the Vokkaligas are devided, much to the chagrin of G.T. Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal.

Says G Made Gowda, a four-time Lok Sabha member and Congress candidate from Mandya, the community has learnt its lessons having backed Gowda totally. It is a different story now. He is, at best, one of the Vokkaliga leaders .In fact, the Adichunchanagiri mutt head, considered the Rajaguru by the Vokkaligas, had orgainsed a conference recently wherein Gowda`s arch rivals like Y.K.Ramaiah and others participated.

Today Gowda, who wants to raise from the dust to haunt the conspirators who ended his premiership rather abruptly, pleads with Vokkaligas to vote for his party to take care of farmers interests. He tells them that Gowda does not want to become the Prime Minister again. He tells his audience how all others, including some Vokkaliga leaders, are ganging up against him. He cajoles them to elect 20-25 MPs from his party to fight for the cause of the rural people.

To cap it all, his younger brother, Basavegowda, has deserted him and has joined the Congress, accusing him and his sons of harassing his family. He now invokes the Kannadiga pride since Vokkaliga pride has become a cliche and has gone out of fashion.