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When the Union government launched a nationwide crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and subsequently banned it, it seemed like the organisation’s political arm, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), would struggle to survive. Just over six months since the crackdown, the SDPI in Karnataka appears to have recovered enough to put up a spirited campaign in a few important constituencies. For the Hindu-right, they are nothing short of ‘terrorists’ and in left-liberal circles, the SDPI is dismissed as an extremist Islamist organisation. But on the campaign trail in Karnataka, the SDPI worked at constructing a broad-based narrative even though it continues to be a primarily Muslim-based party on paper. It has also courted controversy by fielding a candidate who is in prison on charges of murdering a Hindutva leader.
The SDPI projected itself as a Muslim-led party that is not just for Muslims. While the party's rhetoric is focused on social democracy and political representation for Dalit, Backward Class, and Adivasi communities, all but seven of their 16 candidates are non-Muslim. Six of the non-Muslim candidates belong to Scheduled Castes and two of them, Srinivasa Balekai and Yamanappa Gunadal, have been fielded from a general constituency. The move to field Srinivas from a general constituency holds much symbolic value for Dalits, considering mainstream political parties in the state have hardly ever fielded an SC or ST candidate from a general constituency. The party’s claims of social justice were, however, belied further by the fact that it has not fielded a single woman candidate.
The SDPI also came under scrutiny for fielding Ismail Shafi Bellare, who is accused of the murder of a youth leader from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party, however, has firmly stood by him.
The party also fielded candidates in Mangaluru and Bantwal as both these seats are seen as Congress strongholds and have an electorally significant Muslim population. UT Khader has won the Mangaluru seat for three consecutive terms after his late father UT Fareed represented it for four terms. In Bantwal, the former Home Minister B Ramanath Rai has won six out of the eight elections he has contested. Both Rai and Khader used to enjoy something of a cult status among Muslims for the many occasions in which they took the fight to the Hindu right. However, their strident positions against Hindutva have mellowed over the years which saw the BJP becoming a major force. This is where the SDPI and its candidates sniff an opportunity and much of their campaign rhetoric was focussed on the failures of the Congress to provide a genuine secular alternative.
SDPI's significance in different pockets of Karnataka can be attributed to its active involvement in militant protests and demonstrations over the persecution of Muslims. When cattle transporter Idrees Pasha was murdered on March 31, 2023, by Hindutva vigilante Puneeth Kerehalli at Ramanagara, leaders from both Congress and JD(S) condemned the incident, but there wasn't any visible demonstration on the ground. SDPI, on the other hand, launched a massive social media campaign and backed it up with protest rallies on the ground.
Similarly, when the ban on hijab was imposed in educational institutions, the SDPI was at the forefront of the protests, actively fighting for the rights of affected students, while Congress maintained a passive and lacklustre approach towards it. UT Khader, went as far as to say that some organisations brainwashed the students. "These organisations made the students protest and gather support from Pakistan," he had said in an interview with Hindustan Times.
The SDPI's state general secretary, Afsar Kodlipet, believes that the party can connect with the common people. According to Afsar, "We don't just work during the elections, we work 365 days a year with the people and for the people. We take part in people's struggles and protest against various anti-people policies."
However, the SDPI's rise has not been without controversy. Its parent organisation, the PFI, has been banned and many of its leaders are currently in jail, facing an uncertain future. Far from defending the PFI, the SDPI has started vehemently denying links to its ideological parent. Afsar said, “We are an independent organisation, and we have no links to the banned PFI. We are contesting based on the strength of our workers and have nothing to do with any banned organisation,” Afsar said. He further said, "We are a democratic party that believes in peaceful protests and democratic means to achieve our goals.”
There are concerns that the SDPI's participation in the elections could lead to a division of minority votes, ultimately benefiting the BJP. The SDPI has refuted these concerns and argued that voters have become wise to the Congress' previous tactics of using communalism as a means to garner votes.
Despite having limited success in the past, winning only six seats in the 2021 local body elections in the state, the SDPI has seen a rise in its popularity. In the 2013 polls, the party contested 23 seats and polled 3.27% votes. In 2018, SDPI had announced candidates in at least 25 constituencies but pulled out citing a lack of political maturity. Currently, the SDPI governs three panchayats in Ullal, has six members in the Ullal city municipal council, and two corporators in the Mangaluru city corporation. The SDPI pulled out of most seats in 2018 but still cornered 10.50% votes in the three seats it eventually fought on. The party secured 45,781 votes and accounted for 0.12% of the total vote share in 2018.