This morning, sources in New Delhi told Star of Mysore that Mysuru-Kodagu MP Prathap Simha’s chances of getting a ticket for the 2024 Lok Sabha election are 50/50.

This reminds me of the saying: ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ Our MP is working. So why the change? Is it because of senior State BJP leaders’ desperate need for ‘adjustment’ politics?

But what about BJP voters’ need for ‘Vikas’?

There is a mindset among the State BJP leaders that the Modi wave continues, so no matter who stands they will win. This may be true.

But there is only so much a PM can do for our city, ultimately our local MP has to do the work. Mysuru needs an MP who works, not a celebrity or a dynast. We’ve had those in the past and they hardly did any work.

We should judge a leader by how he/she serves their constituents not how he/she serves the partymen or his personal life. In that sense, Prathap Simha has done right by his constituents.

Two decades ago, we Mysureans did not even know who our MP was. We did not know what work an MP could do for us. Now 9 years in, we know what work an MP can do for his Constituency.

We saw it just within a few months after Prathap Simha became the MP. The heritage Tipu Armoury, which was not moved for over a decade, preventing double tracking between Mysuru and Bengaluru, was finished within a year.  Today, we have trains every 20 minutes to Bengaluru.

Since then, development works have continued. Today, we have an Expressway, a functioning airport with expansion plans, new train stations, gas pipelines, water projects and a plan for a Metro Rail in Mysuru. Did we ever think this was possible?

Prathap Simha has been pro-development. I say this with the experience of two incidents.

I was invited to be a part of a meeting where two senior executives from the TATA group wanted to take feedback from local industrialists as they were planning to set up an OSAT ( Outsourced Semi-conductor Assembly and Testing) Plant in Mysuru. The factory was to come near the airport and would employ about 2,000 people. 

The meeting was attended by MP Pratap Simha. He let everyone give their feedback and later spoke at length about the advantages that Mysuru has over other cities in terms of water, connectivity and human resources.

After the meeting when the executive was leaving, Prathap Simha walked ahead and opened the car door for the senior-most executive.

As he opened the door, Prathap Simha said, “Sir, I request you. We need jobs in our city, we have a lot of youths graduating and education is good in Mysuru.” 

 The senior executive smiled, sat in the car and closed the door. A few seconds later, he suddenly opened the car door, stepped out and put his hand on Prathap Simha’s shoulder, saying, “I have met many politicians, but you are the first to open the car door for me and also the first to repeatedly ask for jobs.” He then requested Prathap Simha,  “I would like to have a photo with you.”

To this, Prathap Simha added, “Sir, thank you. But I have one more request. I hope you don’t take it the wrong way. I have information that Coimbatore is also in the running for this factory and you are both Tamilians, so you may be a little biased. But when you make your decision about which city to set up the factory in, Sir, I hope you’ll remember that the water you drink is from Mysuru-Kodagu, my Constituency.”

The executive smiled, shook his head and tapped Prathap Simha on his shoulder.  I and others who were there were impressed by his quick thinking and sincerity.

Another instance was at the inauguration of ‘Swami and Friends Statuary’ in Yadavagiri. Someone spoke about the Railway tracks close by. The topic then led Prathap Simha to speak at length about the importance of planning Metro Rail connectivity for Mysuru right now.  He said, “Yes, the Union Government may not have selected Mysuru to be a Smart City, but it is up to us to make it a future-ready city and Metro is a must for that to happen.”

As news circulates regarding the uncertainty of Prathap Simha’s ticket, one has to ask, will Central BJP turn a blind eye to Vikas and succumb to  Karnataka BJP’s senior leaders’ ADJUSTMENT POLITICS? 

If the latter is true, then the BJP has not learnt from its State election debacle. Most importantly, the State BJP’s senior leadership with its ‘adjustment politics’ will leave not only Mysuru’s Vikas in limbo but also leave two dominant communities in the Old Mysuru region leaderless — Lingayats and Vokkaligas. 

Already, the senior BJP leadership has made the Lingayat community in Mysuru-Kodagu region, a leaderless community.

The very fact that V. Somanna lost to Siddaramaiah with such a massive margin in a Lingayat-dominant Constituency like Varuna suggests that ‘adjustment politics’ has played a hand.  

Now if the same hand makes sure Prathap Simha does not get a ticket, there will be no vociferous leaders for BJP or the Vokkaliga  community in Mysuru.

Good for Congress and very good for senior BJP leaders who want their sons to rule with no ‘internal competition.’

It’s time for the BJP to find new young, nationalist and development-conscious leaders in these communities and nurture them. The oldies have too much understanding with the Congress. They’ve been scratching each other’s back for a long time.

That is why no matter who comes to power, no one gets caught in corruption cases. In fact, it was only Prathap Simha, who challenged Congress to investigate State BJP leaders, who the Congress claimed were corrupt during the election campaign. Maybe that is why Prathap Simha is seen as a problem by the State BJP leadership. 

BJP,  be warned. Do not take your voters for granted. Yes, BJP voters in Mysuru-Kodagu want Narendra Modi to be the PM, but they also want an MP who has the same penchant for development as Prathap Simha. 

So please name a candidate with the same ability as Prathap Simha — to stand outside the Railway Minister’s Office and beg for trains for his Constituency. The same humility to open the car door for a senior industry executive and beg for jobs for the youths of his Constituency. The same vision to have Metro Rail and see it through. The same attitude where his constituents come first and party next.

Else, you will bring a slow death to Mysuru’s development and worse, set a bad precedent —   that,  work for Vikas  does not guarantee one a ticket in the BJP. 

The BJP should not set such a precedent, if it is truly a party of Vikas. Else, they may end up losing  their voters’ Vishwas.

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