Karnataka Elections: Why the race to woo Lingayats & Vokkaligas, how they hold sway in state

New Delhi: After a fortnight of high-decibel campaign by top-rung leaders, Karnataka is polling today for its 224 Assembly seats. While the two main rivals in state, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress made a slew of promises and traded barbs at each other, the two communities occupy the centrestage of Karnataka politics.

Lingayats and Vokkaligas form the very fulcrum of polls and any outcome in Assembly or Parliamentary elections directly hinges on which way they tilt or whom they extend support to.

In race to attain majority in the 224-member Assembly, both BJP & Congress have campaigned hard to woo these two communities, who comprise to about 30% of state’s population.

Lingayats are the biggest community, accounting for 17% of state’s population while Vokkaligas comprise about 11% of population. Other dominant communities with considerable vote share include Kuruba (8%), Scheduled Caste (17%), Scheduled Tribe (7%) & Muslims (13%). Traditionally, it has been seen that Lingayats & Vokkaligas have the potential to sway the elections in their favour.

Out of all BJP nominees, about 60 candidates are from Lingayat community while it allotted 43 tickets to Vokkaligas. To win support of both the communities, the ruling BJP also announced revoking 4% reservation for Muslims and transferring the same to both communities by giving 2% each. This will take existing reservation of Vokkaligas from existing 4% to 6% while for Lingayats, this will increase from 5% to 7%.

In response, the Congress has announced that reservations would be hiked to 75 percent if it forms government. This way, both parties are banking on quota & reservations to win support of the LIngayats and Vokkaligas.
According to poll watchers, the Lingayat community decides the fate of candidates in as many as 110 seats while Vokkaligas remain the deciding factor on about 57 seats in 8 districts.

In 2018 elections, JD(S) was the largest party with 24 seats in Vokkaliga dominated regions while BJP & Congress fetched 15 & 18 seats respectively.