In Vokkaliga heartland, Mandya a test of BJP-JD(S) ties; alliance leans on Hindutva plus farmer anger

At the gram panchayat office of Keragodu village — known for its multitude of temples dedicated to different deities — 14 km from the district headquarters of Mandya in south Karnataka, the Tricolour is hoisted on a newly-erected 108-ft-tall flagpole. Lower down, within a hand’s reach, are saffron Hanuman flags tied temporarily to the post.

A police van has been standing guard near the flagpole for nearly three months now, ever since after Republic Day, local Hindutva groups, backed by members of the JD(S) that controls the gram panchayat, demanded that the Hanuman flag be hoisted permanently on it.

A temporary hoisting of the Hanuman flag had been allowed on January 22 to mark the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, but it was replaced with the national flag on Republic Day. The next day, the Hindutva groups took up the issue, resulting in a conflict.

With the Congress government adamant that it would allow only the Indian flag on the Keragodu flagpole, it has emerged as a Hindutva rallying point for not just the BJP but also its ally JD(S), which has traditionally battled the Congress in Mandya region. On January 29, leaders of both parties — including former CM H D Kumaraswamy — participated in a joint protest. Strikingly, Kumaraswamy, the joint candidate of the BJP and JD(S) from Mandya, which votes on April 26, sported a saffron stole during the protest, unlike the JD(S)’s usual green shawl.

It was a clear sign that, following its bruising defeat in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls, where it finished a distant third behind the Congress and BJP, the JD(S) had decided to embrace the Hindutva ideology for a revival in the Lok Sabha polls.

In Mandya, the JD(S), with its pro-farmer credentials and a dedicated