Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 13: The BJP was driven out of its only bastion in south India as the Congress swept to power in Karnataka with comfortable majority, also throwing to the wayside the regional outfit the Janata Dal (Secular) which was speculated to emerge as the kingmaker.
By late in the evening on Saturday with the final outcome of the Karnataka elections were still awaited, the Congress had won 114 seats, one more than the majority mark of 113 in the 224-member state Assembly, and was leading in 23 other seats, while the BJP’s calculations were down to 64, having won in 50 seats and leading in 14 others, and that of the JD(S) to 20 with victory on 16 seats and leading in four others. The tally of the Independents remained unchanged at three, according to the latest Election Commission of India trends, as votes were counted on Saturday for an election widely seen as a litmus test for both parties ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls.
With a much-needed victory tantalisingly close in the crucial southern State, early celebrations broke out at the Opposition Congress headquarters in Bengaluru and Delhi. The counting is being held at 36 centres across the State, in which 2,615 candidates were in the fray for the polling held on May 10.
However, though the BJP fortunes nosedived in respect of number of seats, 64 against 104 it had won in 2018, a loss of 40 seats, in terms of vote share, the party received only 0.4 per cent votes less than the last assembly elections. The Congress gain was largely at the cost of the JD(S) of the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda. The Congress gained five per cent of votes for which its share of seats increased by 57 while the JD(S) lost five per cent of the votes and its share in number of seats was reduced by nearly half from 38 in 2018 to 20 this time.
The chief minister Basavraj Bommai, who registered his fourth consecutive victory from the Shiggoan constituency in Haveri district, defeating his nearest rival Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan of the Congress by a margin of 35,978 votes, quickly conceded defeat of his party. The BJP leader bagged 99,073 votes against 63,732 polled by Pathan. JD(S)’s Shashidhar Yeligar was in third place with 13,794 votes. The current term of the government will end on May 24, 2023.
The JD(S) has suffered a jolt in its stronghold – Hassan – while the Congress and the BJP strengthened their base. Hassan is native of party patriarch Deve Gowda.
He campaigned extensively, despite his old age, in Hassan and that helped the party get back Hassan seat, which was won by the BJP last time. However, it lost both Sakaleshpur and Belur to the BJP. And, Arasikere is won by former JD(S) MLA K.M.Shivalinge Gowda, who joined the Congress before the elections. The Congress had not won any seat in the district in the last elections.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge won from the Chittapur constituency margin of 13,640 votes, recording his third consecutive victory from the seat. Priyank Kharge bagged 81,088 votes against 67,450 polled by his BJP rival Manikanta Rathod. Aam Admi Party candidate Jagadish S. Sagar was in third place with 962 votes.
BJP’s IT cell in-charge, Amit Malviya, in a series of tweets said the “BJP’s vote share has dropped to 35.8% to 2023 from 36.2% in 2018, a drop of mere 0.4%.” “Congress’s on the other hand has gone up by 4.8%, from 38.1% to 42.9%,” he added.
The BJP national general secretary and former minister CT Ravi, who was defeated in Chikkamgaluru, however, termed it to be his “personal loss” and not of the party ideology. In a tweet, the former minister said “We will introspect in the coming days and rectify our mistakes. Our efforts to build Suvarna Karnataka will continue. I thank Kannadigas for all the support extended to us.” Ravi, who has been elected to the State Assembly since 2004, was admitted to a hospital due to health issues as he started trailing the Congress rival right from the word go.
DMK leader Kanimozhi Karunanidhi also wished the Congress for their “resounding” victory in the Karnataka state elections. “This is not just a victory for the State, but also a promise of change across the nation tomorrow. The outcome resonates as a beacon of hope for those who believe in secular forces. My wishes to the incoming government and the people of Karnataka,” she said.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin greeted the Congress party for “spectacular win” in Karnataka. “The unjustifiable disqualification of brother Rahul Gandhi as MP, misusing premier investigative agencies against political opponents, imposing Hindi, rampant corruption have all echoed in the minds of Karnataka people while voting and they have upheld the #KannadigaPride by teaching a befitting lesson to BJP’s vindictive politics,” he said.
The BJP candidate from Sullia Assembly constituency in Dakshina Kannada, Bhagirathi Murulya, who brought the seventh consecutive victory for her party in Sullia becomes the first Dalit woman from Coastal Karnataka to enter the Legislative Assembly. Sullia was the only reserved constituency among 19 Assembly segments in coastal Karnataka. It was reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate.
Terming the Saturday’s results as ‘unexpected’, the BJP state President Nalin Kumar Kateel said the party accepted the verdict. “BJP has fallen back despite bringing development. I will take responsibility,” he told reporters. He said the party would now review the reasons for the defeat, and prepare the party to face the Lok Sabha elections next year.
