The impressive performance by the Congress is credited to an unusually united fight for the party’s standards, its concentration on local issues, and the last minute off-script moves like calling for banning Bajrang Dal ... -- says 'Deccan Herald'
Heavy anti-incumbency, fueled by the BJP’s perceived bad performance and anger among the poor, also propelled the Congress towards a thumping victory in the state. This will send out a big signal for the road ahead.
The trends available at the Election Commission site says Congress could win 135 seats in the 224-member assembly. It has already won 55 and is leading in 80. In contrast, the JD(S) tally will be 20 -- as many as 17 short of its 2018 tally.
So, between these two anti-BJP parties, the Congress has the last laugh. The further marginalisation of JD(S) led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and his son Kumaraswamy, also a former CM of Karnataka, means the grip of the family on Vokkaliga voters is over.
This will change the game a lot on ground zero of Karnataka politics as Congress state president
D K Shivakumar is also a Vokkaliga leader and he has certainly proved his worth in these elections
as well in the run up to the polls as he could keep the party united.
He would be expecting to be rewarded.
In 2018, Sachin Pilot had played the role for Rajasthan Congress that Shivakumar played in Karnataka this year. Let us not go deep into Rajasthan story yet except the refrain that all is not well between Sachin Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
All may not be good between Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Karnataka as well.
“We will do anything to keep BJP out of power…In the interest of Karnataka, my father should become the Chief Minister,” said Yathindra Siddaramaiah, the son of a doting dad. Dynasty does matter in Congress politics.
In 2019 during Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won 25 out of 28 parliamentary seats. The divide between Congress and JD(S) had then come to light in more ways than one. In fact, the focus of politics of these parties is fairly different from each other. They were in power in alliance but they looked in opposite directions.
Observers noted that the so-called 'vote transfer' between the Congress and the JD-S had "failed". In 15 of the state’s 28 constituencies, the coalition candidate(s) got considerably fewer votes than the combined votes polled by the two parties in 2014. In the 2023 assembly polls this year, Congress gaining in the Old Mysuru region means that JD(S) has lost sizable ground.
There is another important take away, the Congress party has secured lead in four out of five constituencies of Chikkamagaluru district which is considered as a bastion of the BJP.
Between JD(S) and Congress for decades there used to be politics of hypocrisy. Both Congress and the outfit of Gowda family tried to consolidate each other's base at the cost of their so-called partners, the voters saw through this and in 2023 they decided to repose more faith in Congress. Hence JD(S) was dumped in many traditional seats where the Vokkaliga voters are sizable in numbers.
The problems between Congress and JD(S) were visible in 2019 Lok Sabha polls too in seats such as Sira and RR Nagar.
The JD(S) vote share in 2023 polls is 13.3 percent while for Congress it shot up to 43.2.
In 2018, the Congress vote share was 38.14 percent and JD(S) had managed to pick up 18.3 percent of votes. Thus, the people's intent to dump JD(S) is clear and emphatic.
In 2019 Lok Sabha polls too JD(S) performance was very dismal and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda himself had lost from Tumkur parliamentary constituency.
His grandson Nikhil Gowda also lost from Mandya.
The role of Muslim voters has become crucial in deciding the fate of JD(S) and Congress.
The JD(S) has been dumped by Muslims as well and perhaps the comparison of Bajrang Dal with notorious Popular Front of India (PFI) had endeared Muslim voters to the Congress.
No comments:
Post a Comment