Young gun Vijayendra tasked with bagging Old Mysuru votes

Bengaluru: The pre-election adjustments and post-poll crisis management are two different animals- talking in terms of electioneering the capturing the seat of power. In the past Karnataka has seen both of them and has suffered, the politicians have had their say, the political parties lost credibility their leaders left tainted and humiliated in the bargain.

BJP-JDS and Indian National Congress (INC) have all had their go at the coalition arrangements and poaching MLAs after the elections. But now they have understood the futility of such mediocre arrangements and both INC and BJP have decided not to endure it again.

While BJP has made up its mind to take its own course towards total independence from the coalition, INC will aim at a workable majority in numbers in the 2023 elections. But given the conditions in the seat adjustments with the friendly parties (BJP has no friendly parties in Karnataka) in the state in the past JDS will have its own standing.

B Y Vijendra Karnataka General Secretary of the BJP who has been credited with the BJP's resounding victory in Sira and KR Pete has been put in charge by the party to take up revamping the party organisation in Old Mysuru region. It is another matter that he is mandated with wiping off JDS presence in this region and weakening INC by cutting off the JDS support to INC. Vijendra has already set off on this campaign on Monday amid a buoyant note " I love Old Mysuru region and I will try to bring more visibility to the party" he told Hans India after launching his campaign in Mysuru.

Though it will field its candidates in all the 224 seats, the focus will be on only 40 per cent seats concentrating in Old Mysuru region, it works out to be 45 seats in 7-8 districts including Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Mandya, Ramanagara, Tumakuru, Bengaluru Rural and some pockets of Bengaluru city district.A few seats in Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada districts where it has no chances of winning but can cut votes of other parties and sometimes with tacit understanding.

BJP's drive towards achieving self sufficiency in seats in the assembly begins on a high note, but the party wants it to keep a hush-hush affair. BJP leaders Amit Shah and JP Nadda have indicated in their two visits to the state earlier this year that there was an opportunity for the BJP to become unchallenged in the state legislative bodies.

The magic figure of arriving at 150 seats in the state assembly exists for the party for the asking. But before that few grey areas in the hinterland of the coast, Malnad and the old Mysuru region where over 45 potential seats have not been galvanised into BJP seats in the election in 2018. He is definitely eyeing these seats to be converted in favour of his party.

Political pundits in Karnataka indicate that Shah was fed up with last-minute adjustments where MLAs have to be poached to save the government. Karnataka is the last state in the south where BJP can hold power- Tamil Nadu and Kerala being a far cry for the party in the present context. He was not comfortable with such adjustments as it does not augur well with the party's ideology basically -majoritarianism.

The core committee members who met in Delhi on Monday believed that Shah will not tolerate the 'politics of adjustments', especially when India has risen in the world as one of the leading geopolitical power under Modi. This factor has to be taken to the voters and 'transforming' right-thinking minds in other parties was the clear message.

This message according to the BJP top brass meant only one thing- poaching. This targeted poaching operation primarily puts JDS into jeopardy as the party cadres and leaders are easy prey, but the BJP will go a level up and also target INC leaders and candidates with a high degree of winnability.