As Vokkaligas (15 per cent of the population) are considered to be the second major community of Karnataka after Lingayats (17 per cent), the focus is on how whether there would be a shift in their voting stance in the May 10 Assembly election as the ruling BJP has aggressively tried to woo them.

One can gauge the role Vokkaligas play in Karnataka politics from the fact that it has given seven chief ministers to Karnataka since independence. A retired IAS officer added that H D Deve Gowda, a Vokkaliga, became the first person from Karnataka to occupy the post of prime minister.