Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan appointed BJP in-charge of Karnataka polls

Union minister of education, skill development and entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan has been appointed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s in-charge of the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections, which is due by May 2023.

BJP Tamil Nadu state unit president, K Annamalai will be the co-in-charge. The appointments were made by party president JP Nadda on Saturday.

The BJP will be fighting to retain power in the 224-member Karnataka assembly, where the Congress is banking on the recently concluded Bharat Jodo Yatra to swing the outcome in its favour.

According to leaders familiar with the matter, the BJP has set a target of winning 150 of the 224 seats. The party has also ruled out pre-poll alliance with the Janta Dal Secular (JDS).

Pradhan, who was earlier in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, had earned accolades from the BJP leadership for steering the party to a victory in the state when the organisation was marred by intra party factionalism. He will have the task of setting the poll narrative in Karnataka where the party has hurtled from one controversy to another.

The state was in the headlines over controversies such as the move to ban hijab in educational institutions, demands for banning halal products and the use of loudspeakers from places of worship.

To blunt anti-incumbency, the BJP leadership replaced party strongman BS Yediyurappa with BS Bommai as chief minister in July 2021 . The decision did not go down well with the Lingayat community that Yediyurappa represents. While the BJP has been trying to assuage the Lingayats, a dominant caste group in the state, it is also making overtures towards the Vokkaliga and Kurba communities, particularly in the old Mysore region that it wants to strengthen its position in.

The BJP ruled the state between 2013 and 2018 and emerged as the single largest party in 2018. However, an alliance of the Congress and the JDS formed the government. The BJP returned to power in the state in 2019 after effecting defection and resignation of 18 legislators.

“In UP, Pradhan worked as a bridge between the state and central leadership. He also had the critical task of picking the right candidates without disturbing the caste balance and coordination between different groups,” a party functionary said.

In the past, Pradhan has overseen elections in Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Jharkhand, and Telangana.