It wouldn’t be unjust to say that in politics, everything happens for elections. Whether it is five years away or in a month’s time- every move, every speech and every project is launched at the cost of our votes after massive brainstorming and calculations. This holds true for all the political parties and democracies across the world irrespective of their ideology, motto or agendas. At the end of the day, it all boils down to one thing- who keeps the people happy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in Bengaluru to inaugurate the newly built Terminal 2 of the Kempegowda Bengaluru Airport andalso unveiled a 108-feet tall bronze statue of ‘Nadaprabhu Kempegowda’, who is known to be garden city’s founder.
One thing that’s common in both these projects is the word ‘Kempegowda’, which holds huge historical as well as sentimental value in Bengaluru. Nadaprabhu Kempegowda is known to be the founder of the Bengaluru city and unveiling a statue after him, just months before the Karnataka Assembly Election is not a mere coincidence.
The Kempegowda statue
The 108-feet tall bronze statue of ‘Nadaprabhu’ Kempegowda was unveiled by PM Modi on Friday outside the Bengaluru Airport where a new sustainable Terminal 2 was inaugurated today. The unveiling of the ‘Statue of Prosperity’ comes hours after the first Vande Bharat Express in south India – on the Chennai-Mysuru-Bengaluru route.
The statue was built in a 23-acre heritage park on the airport premises. It also has a 4,000 kg sword which arrived at Bengaluru airport from Delhi last month. The sword was brought in a special truck.
Kempegowda statue and BJP’s long political calculations
The construction of the Kempegowda statue was first announced in September 2019 by CM B S Yediyurappa. He said the statue was built at the cost of 100 crores. It was right after the BJP failed to secure a clear majority due to a lack of support from the Vokkaliga community, to which Kempegowda belonged.
The Vokkalinga community was upset with the BJP and a massive protest was sparked in Bengaluru over the alleged targeting of its members by central probe agencies. The protest was triggered at a time when the BJP was attempting to poach Vokkaliga community leaders to strengthen its base in the old Mysuru region, which is considered the Vokkaliga stronghold
Why is BJP trying to woo the Vokkaligas?
In the coming assembly elections, BJP, which has had a rocky run in Karnataka, trying to woo the Vokkaliga community by honouring Kempegowda. He is an iconic figure among Karnataka’s second most dominant Vokkaliga community after Lingayats.
Vokkaliga is the major focus for the BJP as it has never won a clear majority in the state as it struggled to attract the Vokkaliga community.
