Lok Sabha polls 2014: Will Siddaramaiah’s OBC card fetch votes for Congress in Krishnagiri?

BANGALORE: When Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah toured Krishnagiri Lok Sabha constituency in Tamil Nadu last week to campaign for Congress candidate A Chellakumar, he was targeting not just the sizeable Kannadiga population there, but also the significantly larger population of backward classes.

In Karnataka, Siddaramaiah has quite successfully emerged as a formidable backward class leader, and could now be testing his popularity in the border areas of the neighbouring state.

Krishnagiri Lok Sabha seat, with about 13.79 lakh voters, has a significant number of Kannadiga families in the Assembly segments of Hosur, Thali and Veppanapalli. At the public meetings in these places and in Krishnagiri, which Siddaramaiah addressed in Kannada, the response was good, according to a voter in Krishnagiri. It is also the first time a Congress Chief Minister from Karnataka toured this place because the party had fielded its candidate after a long time here, as it went to the party’s alliance partner in the past.

However, what stands between Siddaramaiah and the voters in Tamil Nadu is the contentious Cauvery river water issue. The two states don’t see eye to eye on this issue, Tamil Nadu’s demands for water were always met with resistance and suspicion in Karnataka. Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, always carried this anguish that Karnataka hoarded water in its reservoirs.

Siddaramaiah, hailing from the sensitive Mysore district where a spark over Cauvery water can ignite big trouble, did not avoid reference to the river issue in his meetings. He used the opportunity to blame both Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda for escalating tension between the states. He maintained that Karnataka released Cauvery waters as per the directions of the Supreme Court.

His efforts to woo Kannadiga and backward class voters in Krishnagiri may have only a limited impact if what observers say is anything to go by. “The UPA government bungled on many issues concerning Tamilians like, for instance, the Srilankan issue or fishermen issue. It will take a long time for the party to win back the confidence of Tamil voters,” said analyst Thirunavukkarasu.