Bengaluru, 13 May: With the declaration of the 10 May general election results today and the Indian National Congress (INC) sweeping the polls upsetting the Bharatiya Janata Party’s apple cart is another reiteration of the state people’s tendency of repeating the history by packing off the ruling party in the dispensation.
Although, the wave for change was candid clear by the writing on the wall but not to such an extent take the Congress itself a big surprise.
Oft repeated tendency: Just a few days prior to the polls no one in the political arena ever wondered about such a mandate but the Congress leaders repeatedly made claims of forming the government on their own. The practice of the state voters disowning the party in power began way back in 1978 and it has continued until this day in every other election but for the midterm poll during 1985.
Gateway to South lost: By losing Karnataka, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost its only bastion in the whole of South India as all other remaining states like Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala continue to be ruled by regional and other combines having nothing to do with the saffron party in power in the centre.
Not in power on its own even once: In Karnataka also the party never came to power on its own even once. The first time it joined hands with the formidable rival Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) to form an alliance government on a 20-20 month pact. Thanks to the JDS refusing to hand over reigns after completion of the agreed tenure paved the way for the BJP to emerge as the single largest party in the subsequent elections.
Yet, it didn’t have the numbers to form a government and then on began an undemocratic, hitherto unheard practice of ‘Operation Lotus’.
The same story repeats: Thanks to a hung Assembly in the 2018 polls, BJP went a step further to dislodge the JDS-led Congress alliance government. 14 INC and Three JDS legislators were bought over and made to quit their MLA positions, and contest elections on behalf of the BJP to become ministers later.
WhatsApp University plays spoilsport: All along the regime of the BJP, the WhatsApp University of BJP kept on playing spoilsport in public life. No day went without the university students posting derogatory, provocative and inflammatory posts against Congress and its leaders. These posts were successful enough in giving rise to a sort of aversion among the common people usually not bothered by day-to-day affairs.
Anti-incumbency factor: As usual in the state, this time around anti-incumbency factor was detrimental in punishing the ruling BJP.
The State Contractors Association’s written complaint to the Prime Minister about 40 per cent commission finding no response played havoc in poll campaigns. Reclassifying the reservations category, stripping reservation quota earmarked to Muslims, denial of tickets to former CM Jagadish Shettar, former DCM Lakshman Savadi, several sitting MLAs? and 72 new faces gave a dent to the ruling party.
Lingayats’ tilt helped Congress: The ‘mastermind strategy’ of the BJP high command at the behest of a couple of gentlemen to deny tickets to Jagadish Shettar and Lakshman Savadi transformed into the last nail in the coffin of BJP.
Also reported outbursts of BL Santosh, National Organizing Secretary BJP that they would like to build the party on Hindutva agenda and BJP doesn’t need the support of Lingayats’. His remarks that the party is not dependent on any single individual hinting at former chief minister BS Yediyurappa spread like wildfire and the party tasted in 49 of the 62 Lingayat-dominated constituencies.
