Political greenhorn, history-sheeter: why BJP chose Manikant Rathore to take on Priyank Kharge

In Gundakurthi, one of the most remote villages in Karnataka’s Chittapur constituency, 26-year-old Manikant Rathod – accompanied by 30-35 supporters – is going door to door with folded hands. Paying close attention to the grievances of the local people, he firmly held their hands and promised to bring a wave of development to transform their lives.

A youth icon, as his supporters tell me, Rathore is the BJP’s young firebrand leader to take on Priyank Kharge, who is eyeing a hat-trick in this high-stakes prestige battle as Chittapur has traditionally It has been a bastion of Congress. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge won his ninth election from this constituency in 2008 before handing over the reins to his son in 2009 to move to Delhi as Gulbarga’s MP.

An unprecedented choice many would say, Rathod overcame eight contenders – including BJP’s Yuva Morcha general secretary Arvind Chavan – to emerge as the party’s choice, even as it triggered high-profile resignations.

Rathod, however, remains confident and confident in his own strength. “Right now, we are campaigning in the village of Mallikarjun Kharge’s wife. See how many people are supporting me. You will find similar views everywhere. My candidature was on the back of the love and support that I have been getting from people for the last three years. They have seen me grow from strength to strength,” Rathod told News18.

An unprecedented choice many would say, Manikant Rathore beat eight contenders – including BJP’s Yuva Morcha general secretary Arvind Chavan – to emerge as the party’s choice, even as it triggered high-profile resignations. (News18)

Standing near a temple surrounded by a mixed crowd of senior citizens, youth activists and children, Rathore took a scathing attack on Priyank Kharge for being the ‘missing MLA’ who visits his constituency only to cut ribbons for new projects. We do. His election pitch is greeted with thunderous applause, followed by chants of his name.

Contesting as an MLA could be a fresh start for Rathore, on the other hand, his affidavit is not a clean slate. He is one of the most controversial candidates contesting the assembly elections and that too from a constituency the BJP is determined to win.

long criminal record

The 26-year-old leader has at least 40 criminal cases registered against him in Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra. Some of these cases include serious crimes such as attempt to murder, drug and narcotics trafficking, illegal possession of firearms, and illegal transportation of packets of rice and milk powder meant for the poor through the Public Distribution System (PDS).

The Police Commissioner of Kalaburagi also expelled him from the city for a year for being a habitual criminal and a mobster. Rathore managed to get a stay order from the court. In November last year, he was briefly arrested for threatening to shoot Congress MLA Priyank Kharge.

When Rathore was asked about the possibility of his criminal past, he termed all the cases fabricated and politically motivated.

“All these cases have been planted by Kharge and his followers. They even tried to kill me. Whole Chittapur knows that I am an innocent person. I have filed a complaint with Lokayukta against Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyank Kharge on how they are misusing the land allotted by the government for the construction of Ambedkar Smarak Kalyan. They cheated them too by failing to build institutions in the name of Lingayat and Koli communities.”

Caste factor and sympathy vote

Rathore says he is following in the footsteps of late BJP MLA Valmiki Naik, who contested from Chittapur four times and won the seat by defeating Priyank Kharge in a 2009 bypoll.

“Valmiki Naik was like a father figure to me. My initial days in politics were spent campaigning for him. He was also a towering leader as he broke the hegemony of the Kharge family and paved the way for the BJP. I am confident of repeating what he managed to do in 2009 because I know the pulse of the people, says Rathod.

The 26-year-old leader has at least 40 criminal cases registered against him in Karnataka, Telangana and Maharashtra. Some of these cases include serious crimes like attempt to murder, drug and narcotics trafficking, illegal possession of firearms. (News18)

What binds them together is the aspect of caste. Both Naik and Rathore belong to the Lambani (Banjara) community, which has a population of around 35,000 to 40,000 in Chittapur. News18 is attributing these figures to rough estimates made by both BJP and Congress leaders in the area.

With Rathore’s candidature, the BJP is trying to strike a balance between the caste and youth factor to swing the votes in its favour. The party is also hoping to gain political mileage through its recently reconfigured internal reservation matrix, which divides the earlier 17 per cent SC quota into three parts – the most backward SC (Left) group 6 per cent for SC, 5.5 per cent for SC (right) group, and 4.5 per cent for SC (touchable) which includes Lambani and Bhovi communities. Priyank Kharge comes from the SC-right group.

But what could pose a bigger challenge to the BJP is the community that forms its core support base – the Lingayats, with an estimated population of 65,000. The unexpected selection of an inexperienced, history-sheeter like Rathore led to the ouster of Vishwanath Patil Hebbal, a three-time MLA from Chittapur and an influential leader of the Panchamasali Lingayat community.

Both Hebbal and youth leader Arvind Chavan criticized the BJP for promoting ‘outsiders with criminal background’. The Congress also hopes to capitalize on the popularity of other Lingayat stalwarts and BJP defectors like Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi. Political pundits also believe that Baburao Chinchansur, another BJP ally, will be instrumental in garnering votes from the numerically strong Koli community.

Determined to stack the odds in his favor, says Rathore

“Look around me. Every other person standing here with me is a Lingayat. Hebbal has been disloyal to the party. Before switching to BJP for political survival, he won Chittapur as a JDS leader. But wants to stay in politics. But BJP is a party that recognizes real talent and hence when Hebbal was denied ticket for not performing well, he vented his frustration on me. Joining both Savadi and Shettar makes no difference Will not. I am not trying to please any one community. I want to win with everyone’s support,” he says.

He adds: “The moment I become an MLA, I promise that I will take away 50 percent of the illegal property grabbed by the Kharge people from the Kalyan-Karnataka region.”

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