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The emergence of Puneeth in Ramanagara marks a shift in the BJP’s politics in the region. Ashwath Narayan, who was made the Ramanagara district minister-in-charge in July 2022, is now the

BJP’s top Vokkaliga face in the Old Mysore region. He was earlier made the Deputy Chief Minister in the BS Yediyurappa government. 

Since his elevation, Ashwath Narayan has been active in Ramanagara and keen to promote the construction of a Ram temple on the top of the Ramadevarabetta hill in the district, with the

latest budget announced by the state government earmarking funds for it. He had earlier opposed the construction of a 114-foot-tall statue of Jesus Christ on Kapali Betta in the district and

the issue had pitted him as an opponent to DK Shivakumar, who had laid the foundation stone for the statue. 

Ashwath Narayan’s rise to prominence in the BJP is widely seen as the party’s attempt to position him as a major Vokkaliga leader and a counter to the influence of R Ashoka, another

Vokkaliga leader who is the current Revenue Minister in the state. In January this year, posters were put up in Mysuru asking Ashoka to ‘Go Back,’ with many believing that the posters were

the result of a campaign within the BJP to dent his chances in the upcoming elections.

In contrast to Ashoka, who is widely seen as a leader with a likable public persona, Ashwath Narayan has been accused of making controversial statements and has not shied away from communal

remarks. Speaking in a pre-poll rally in Mandya in February, he called for (former Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah to be ‘finished off’ and claimed that if the BJP loses the Karnataka Assembly

elections, then Siddaramaiah, who admires 18th-century Mysuru ruler Tipu Sultan, would come to power. 

In the same speech, he was also accused of myth-making when he propagated the claim that Tipu Sultan, the 18th century ruler of Mysore (now Mysuru), was killed by two Vokkaligas — Uri Gowda

and Nanje Gowda. This was despite colonial and Indian archival records from the 18th century stating that it was the British army that executed Tipu Sultan on 4 May, 1799, during the fourth

Anglo-Mysore War.

The BJP honoured the fictional characters in an archway put up during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Mandya in March. The BJP leader and Horticulture Minister  Munirathna had even

planned to make a film on the two characters with the movie poster crediting the story of the movie to Ashwath Narayan.

But the plans were shelved after Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji, the pontiff of the Adichunchanagiri Math, considered the main religious institution of the Vokkaligas in the state, released a

video requesting all politicians “to stop meddling with history without any proper evidence.”

Now, the communal attack in Ramanagara appears to have given the BJP's supporters an issue to drum up support in the region. The police, frozen into inaction, are yet to apprehend Puneeth

even though he has posted a video addressing the communal attack and targeting the main opposition leaders in the state.