Well done, old friend! Siddaramaiah, who resigned as chief minister, is greeted by party boss Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on Friday
“The split gradually converted Karnataka’s politics into a direct contest between dominant social blocs, largely Vokkaligas and Lingayats,” said Venkatesh Thogarighatta, political analyst and consultant. Thereafter, politics increasingly revolved around community identity rather than ideology,” Venkatesh said. “If Shivakumar fulfils the aspirations of the community which JD(S) failed to do in the past two decades, Vokkaligas may rally around him for years,” Venkatesh said.
“The incident consolidated Lingayats behind Yediyurappa while strengthening Vokkaligas around the Gowda family. However, Siddaramaiah built a parallel socio-political coalition through Ahinda — minorities, backward classes and Dalits. Over time, he transformed backward caste identity into a statewide political movement and emerged as Karnataka’s most influential Kuruba leader. Within the Vokkaliga community too, the political space continues to be shaped by the legacy of Gowda and JD(S), despite KPCC president DK Shivakumar steadily expanding his influence.
He too eventually evolved beyond ideology and became a political identity for backward classes, much like former chief minister D Devaraj Urs in an earlier era.
Siddaramaiah too failed to nurture a credible second line of leadership within Ahinda communities,” said Prof Ravindra Reshme, political observer. Reshme said the growing culture of “parivarvad” gradually weakened the internal leadership pipeline across parties and communities and Karnataka may now enter an extended political phase dominated by coalition-building, caste arithmetic, welfare populism and factional negotiations. Observers argue seniors also failed to nurture successors within their own communities. “While Gowda steadily drifted away from his ideological roots and transformed JD(S) into a family-centric party, Yediyurappa openly encouraged dynastic politics by passing the baton to his son BY Vijayendra.