Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship, has been named Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in charge of the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections, which are scheduled for May 2023.
K Annamalai, the president of the BJP’s Tamil Nadu state unit, will be the co-in-charge. JP Nadda, the party’s president, made the appointments on Saturday.
The BJP will be fighting to retain power in Karnataka’s 224-member assembly, where the Congress is hoping that the recently concluded Bharat Jodo Yatra will tip the balance in its favor.
According to leaders with knowledge of the situation, the BJP has set a goal of winning 150 of the 224 seats. The party has also ruled out forming a pre-election alliance with the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS).
Pradhan, who was previously in charge of Uttar Pradesh, received praise from the BJP leadership for leading the party to victory in the state despite intra-party factionalism. He will be in charge of shaping the election narrative in Karnataka, where the party has been mired in controversy after controversy.
The state made headlines for controversies such as a move to prohibit hijab in educational institutions, calls to prohibit halal products and the use of loudspeakers in places of worship.
To counter anti-incumbency, the BJP leadership replaced party strongman BS Yediyurappa as chief minister in July 2021 with BS Bommai. The decision was not well received by the Lingayat community, which Yediyurappa represents. While the BJP has been attempting to appease the state’s dominant caste group, the Lingayats, it is also reaching out to the Vokkaliga and Kurba communities, particularly in the old Mysore region where it wishes to strengthen its position.
Between 2013 and 2018, the BJP ruled the state and emerged as the single largest party. The government, however, was formed by an alliance of Congress and the JDS. The BJP reclaimed power in the state in 2019 after 18 legislators defected or resigned.
“In Uttar Pradesh, Pradhan served as a link between the state and the central leadership. “He also had the critical task of selecting the right candidates while maintaining caste balance and coordination between different groups,” a party functionary explained.
Pradhan has previously presided over elections in Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Jharkhand, and Telangana.
