Indira Gandhi seeks election to Lok Sabha from Karnataka's Chikmagalur constituency

Former prime minister Indira Gandhi is reinforcing a national trend by seeking election to the Lok Sabha from Karnataka's Chikmagalur constituency in the South. Several leaders of the Janata Party from the South had contested in the 1977 General Elections from the North and won. Now in her search for a constituency to avenge the ignominous defeat by Raj Narain at Rae Bareli in 1977, she has moved away from the North, to the South - the stronghold of the non-Janata Parties.Mrs Gandhi's decision to contest a by-election shows that the shrewd political strategist is ruling out the possibility of a mid-term election and probably expects the Janata Party or some other combinations to stay on in power at the Centre. She has also been consistently saying in her recent speeches that a mid-term election is unlikely, and that she does not foresee an immediate return to power.In fact, her immediate preoccupations are not with coming to power, but saving herself and her son from prosecution and possible conviction in one of the many cases launched against her. This is what had brought her out of her retreat after her defeat last year to bid for the leadership of the Congress, and in the process, split it.Now, assured of becoming the leader of the opposition in Parliament if she is elected, she could hope for a stronger shield to protect her from the sins of the Emergency. Should she win, she would be ready for fresh international exposure next month when she visits Britain in the second week of November.As the leader of the Opposition, she could expect special treatment in Britain. If she loses, it would be a wonderful opportunity for her to attack the Janata Party and the Government as being anti-democratic and having "rigged" the poll.Minorities: Her election from Chikmagalur is not 100 per cent certain as her party men like to think. This constituency had elected the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) candidate in the 1967 parliamentary elections. The PSP bastion was, however, swept away by the Indira wave in 1971. The margin between the Congress and the Congress(O), which came second in the 1971 elections, was 1,20,000 votes. In the 1977 elections, the margin was reduced to about 64,000 (see chart).The Chikmagalur constituency is not a homogeneous one. It has large numbers of linguistic minorities like the Tamilians and the Keralites, most of whom work in the tea and coffee estates that cover its emerald hills. There are also sizeable numbers of Muslims (10 per cent) and Harijans (15 per cent).The Janata Party candidate from here in the 1977 elections, D.L. Subbammah, was from the former Jan Sangh and, therefore, could not take the minorities with her, according to the Janata Party circles. They feel that the Janata Party could put up a better fight with a more universally accepted candidate and by reinforcing the old PSP connections.Veerendra Patil, Janata Parly's candidate has been selected from a panel which included men from the films and literature. He is a former chief minister of Karnataka and belonged to the former Congress(O). Though he managed to stay in power after the 1969 Congress split, his party was routed in the general elections that followed. He was a member of the Rajya Sabha until recently. His main drawback is the lack of mass appeal.Volunteer Armies: Industry Minister George Fernandes, once the most wanted man on Mrs Gandhi's Emergency list, and Janata Party General Secretary K.S. Hegde, both of whom hail from Karnataka, have staked their prestige in this contest and would be personally involved in the campaign.The various youth organizations of the Janata Party are already organizing armies of volunteers for the campaign as they did during last year's poll. Said one of them: "We will finish her off this time, once and for all." But Mrs Gandhi's own army, drawn mainly from her son, Sanjay's Youth Congress, is also equally confident of her being elected.Should Mrs Gandhi get elected, she would have to revamp the working of her party in Parliament. Whether the histrionic antics of her MPs like Vasant Sathe will continue or would the party take on a sober, new style is a matter of speculation. Mrs Gandhi has never been in the Opposition before. She will not be able to manipulate things from the stage and will have to take direct responsibilities.Chikmagalur in Kannada means "the town of the little daughter". Mrs Gandhi, who once fancied herself as Mother India, now prefers to project herself before the voters of Chikmagalur as Nehru's 'little daughter' hounded by the big bad wolves of the Janata Party.PROSPECTS: FADING CHARISMA Mrs Gandhi: Praying to winThe foothold which Mrs Indira Gandhi was able to retain in the South after he fall from power last year is proving to be slippery. Until a few weeks ago, her sychophants were claiming that if "Indira is not India, she is at least South India". Now the south is also having second thoughts about unqualified support for the fallen dictator.The recent by-election to the Kerala Assembly from the Trivandrum east constituency was a fore-runner of Mrs Gandhi's fading charisma. Her party managers assured her that if only she could show her face in the constituency at about the election time, albeit under the pretext of attending the state conference of the Pradesh Congress, the candidate whom her party was supporting would romp home.In the event, the CPI(M) candidate got elected. The Kerala Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, described the outcome of the by-election as Mrs Gandhi's Waterloo.In Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, considered to be her fiefs, Mrs Gandhi has been finding increasing resistance to her designs to replace the Pradesh Congress presidents - who also happen to be the chief ministers of the states - with her "yes-men".Growing Opposition: An indication of the mounting opposition against her could be gauged from an incident in Andhra last week. Her nominee for a party post, K. Rajamallu, was roughed up, his car smashed, and window panes of his house broken. Even in Tamil Nadu, where her party does not count for much, its president, G. Karupiah Moopnar, fed up with her ways of promoting groupism, has decided to step down.It is now common knowledge that the Karnataka chief minister and PCC(I) President, Devraj Urs, was initially not keen on Mrs Gandhi contesting the Chikmagalur by-election to the Lok Sabha. He had frustrated her attempt to enter the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka by clandestinely enrolling herself as a voter in the state by leaking the news through official circles. Urs is understood to have advised her to seek a North Indian constituency.Tactics: Sensing Urs's reluctance, Mrs Gandhi dramatically announced the cancellation of her four-day scheduled tour of Chikmagalur constituency which was to begin on October 4.Urs was then forced to issue a statement making it "abundantly clear to all motivated persons" that their efforts to impair his relationship with Mrs Gandhi would not succeed and that "she is the only national leader who has the capacity to rouse and move India's millions".Urs was further made to say that "Mrs Gandhi is the only hope of salvation for the downtrodden and helpless masses of India". It was after Urs's unconditional surrender that Mrs Gandhi announced her decision to contest from Chikmagalur.But Mrs Gandhi is no longer placing her full faith on the Karnataka chief minister for her election victory. Before filing her nomination, she drove to Sringeri, performed a pooja at the famous Sarada Math and invoked the blessings of the Sankaracharya.From Sringeri, she drove to Dharamsthai, another pilgrim centre. It was after the double pilgrimage that she launched her election campaign in the Chikmagalur constituency. Mrs Gandhi clearly does not want to take any chances on her come back trail. Published By: AtMigration Published On: Mar 13, 2014 14:04 IST--- ENDS ---

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Indira Gandhi seeks election to Lok Sabha from Karnataka's Chikmagalur constituency

Former prime minister Indira Gandhi is reinforcing a national trend by seeking election to the Lok Sabha from Karnataka's Chikmagalur constituency in the South. Several leaders of the Janata Party from the South had contested in the 1977 General Elections from the North and won.

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