The Congress has been quick to pin the BJP’s loss on Prime Minister Modi and has accused him of running a divisive and negative campaign while there was nothing specific for the Karnataka voters, who could see the difference in the two campaigns. A report by Amit Agnihotri
In a major setback, the BJP lost the high stakes Karnataka assembly polls despite an aggressive campaign led by PM Modi.
The BJP could win only 65 seats as compared to 136 of the Congress, 19 of JD-S and 4 others out of total 224. In the 2018 polls, the BJP had won 104 seats. Though the JD-S-Congress coalition had come to power in 2018, the BJP was able to defeat the HD Kumaraswamy government in 2019 after poaching 17 Congress MLAs. BJP leader BS Yediyurappa then became the chief minister but was replaced by Basavaraj Bommai in 2021.
Though Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda also campaigned for the saffron party, PM Modi became the face of the party as he conducted a high-pitched voter outreach with 19 public meetings and six road shows to counter the anti-incumbency of the Bommai government.
The main appeal of the PM’s campaign was a second term for the BJP saying the double engine government will further push development in the southern state. Nadda said the state won’t get PM Modi’s blessings if the BJP lost.
Karnataka was important for the BJP as it was the only state where the party had political power in the whole of south India. Now, that advantage has been lost ahead of the major assembly polls in 2023 and the 2024 national polls. Among the four assembly polls this year are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. The BJP has been trying to get an entry into Telangana where the Karnataka results will have an impact. The BJP hardly has a presence in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Together, the five southern states have 129 Lok Sabha seats.
Out of the four poll-bound states, Congress rules in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The party directly fights the BJP in three states, MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while it faces ruling BRS in Telangana. Karnataka, the only southern state where the BJP had managed to make inroads, sends 28 members to the Lok Sabha. As a result, the BJP will now be seen majorly as a north Indian party and this could go against its claims of being the largest political party in the country.
