By P.T. Bopanna
Contrary to popular perception that the BJP has become very weak in Kodagu (Coorg) following the shock defeat of the party in the last legislative assembly elections, the saffron party is not just alive, but is also kicking.
Kodagu was once a saffron fortress and had the distinction of being ‘Congress mukt’ district where the BJP was in power in all the elected bodies from Lok Sabha to gram panchayat.
The story changed overnight after two young dashing leaders from the Congress party defeated two BJP stalwarts and sitting MLAs K.G. Bopaiah and Appachu Ranjan, who had almost become permanent unpopular fixtures in the district.
The giant-killers were A.S. Ponnanna, son of firebrand politician A.K. Subbaiah, who ousted Bopaiah from Virajpet constituency and Mantar Gowda, hailing from Hassan district, who trounced Appachu Ranjan in Madikeri constituency.
The shock defeat was humiliating for the BJP and the party almost became faceless following the exit of Bopaiah and Ranjan. Bopaiah and Ranjan had ensured that there was no second-line of leaders, with a view to continue as MLAs for lifetime.
While Ponnanna and Mantar Gowda with their well supported social media teams were all over the social media, the leaderless BJP was nowhere in the picture.
Things began to change after the BJP leader, Ravi Kushalappa, former zilla panchayat president, began posting on Facebook with photos of the bad condition of many roads in the district.
A couple of days ago, I put up a post on Facebook, that Reena Prakash (in picture), a senior leader of the party, was likely to bag the ticket to contest the next Assembly election from Virajpet constituency, considering the rapport she enjoys with former Union minister Smrithi Irani, who has now been appointed the party’s national general secretary.
Much to my surprise, I found that the post on Reena had emerged as one of my most viewed posts in recent weeks.
After Facebook designated me as a ‘digital creator’, I have been provided with a ‘dashboard’ where I get the feedback on the performance of my posts. I understand from the dashboard that many of the viewers of my post were first time viewers.
The message is clear: contrary to popular perception, the BJP is still alive and kicking. Another take is that the Congress party should not be under the impression that the next Assembly polls in 2028 will be a cakewalk for them.
Another message is that the two Congress legislators should restrain themselves from hyping their social media posts. They should have more interactions with their core support base of SC/STs who hardly find any mention in the social media posts. Self-glorification is certainly not a recipe for success. The posts should ideally reflect empathy for the weak and downtrodden.
In keeping with the suggestion from my Facebook dashboard for a follow-up report on Reena Prakash, I have come out with this report.
