As per media reports, Bharatiya Janata Party CM B.S. Yeddyurappa reached Shangri-La hotel for the party meeting before the floor test in Karnataka assembly. BJP MLAs from Karnataka had been arriving at the hotel since early morning from where they will head directly for the floor test scheduled to be held at 4 PM. According to CNN News 18, B.S. Yeddyurappa has told his supporters that, “At 5 pm, you will be celebrating. Stay calm till then (sic).” The confidence shown by CM Yeddyurappa before the floor test has many reasons behind it. BJP Party President Amit Shah has played a huge role in instilling this confidence but he has gotten major help from the ground level workers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
According to an article published in One India, RSS is trying everything possible to make the path of government formation easy for the BJP. As per the sources, RSS workers have been in constant touch with local community leaders of the Lingayats. It is through these community leaders that the RSS hopes to reach the Lingayat community MLAs. Hopefully, these community leaders will make their MLAs rethink their decision of going with the JDS-Congress alliance. The issue of Hindu unity, which the Congress badly failed at breaking, is being used by RSS to pursue the Lingayat leaders to support BJP during the floor test.
The JDS and Congress MLAs are themselves not in a great mood to join hands because of the Linagayat-Vokkaliga issue. Siddaramaiah’s politics of breaking the Lingayat community away from the Hindu identity badly failed. His offer for separate religion status was shunned by the majority of the Lingayat community as is evident in the election results. Many Lingayat leaders from the Congress such as Vinay Kulkarni, Sharan Prakash Patil lost their seats to BJP candidates in the elections. Siddaramaiah too did not escape unscathed as he lost the Chamundeshwari seat, which has a huge Lingayat voter base, by more than 36,000 votes.
RSS had a huge role in making the community understand the reasons behind Congress’ divisive politics before the elections. The RSS and its affiliates campaigned extensively in Karnataka to explain the nefarious politics behind the offer of Siddaramaiah’s separate religion status to the Lingayats. Their door to door campaigning had led to the shifting of votes to the BJP. RSS has their own reasons for supporting BJP government in the state. A Congress-JDS alliance government would not help the RSS in Karnataka which plans to unify the Hindu community as a whole.
RSS leadership is also worried about the killings of its workers in Karnataka. A BJP government would ensure fair and swift trials in the murder of various RSS swayamsevaks which has taken place in the past few months under Congress rule. RSS can demand the BJP to order inquiries on the killings and bring the guilty to justice.
The floor test which is going to happen in Karnataka assembly will decide the fate of Karnataka for the coming five years. At five pm today, it will become clear who will stay in power and RSS as always has backed the BJP. Like a guardian angel watching over every action of the party, RSS has put all its might to ensure no harm comes to the CM Yeddyurappa led BJP government in Karnataka. BJP, when it gets the majority votes, must acknowledge the backing it has received from the Sangh and its affiliates in their endeavour to bring prosperity and stability in Karnataka.
