Comments
The BJP is on course to win 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, putting at risk the stability of the JD(S) Congress coalition government in the State.
Some political giants, such as HD Deve Gowda of the JD(S) and Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, were trailing against their nearest BJP rivals when reports last came in. Twenty-eight-year-old Tejaswi Surya, who won from the Bengaluru South constituency, has become the youngest BJP candidate to get elected to the Lok Sabha. JD(S) and Congress candidates are expected to win one seat each. In 2014, the BJP won 17 seats, the Congress nine and the JD(S) two.
Upsets galore
The BJP wave in the State was so strong that a first-time independent candidate, film actor Sumalatha Ambareesh — widow of former MP and actor Ambareesh — won the traditional stronghold of the JD(S), Mandya, against Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son, with a good margin.
In this Lok Sabha election, the BJP made in-roads into the Old Mysore and Hyderabad-Karnataka regions. In the Old Mysore constituencies, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda lost to GS Basavaraj in Tumakuru.
The Congress, which had a good hold over the Hyderabad-Karnataka regions, performed extremely poorly here.
Mallikarjun Kharge, the party mascot from the region, lost miserably in Gulbarga.
Kharge had won the Lok Sabha seat twice and the Assembly seat nine times, earning the title Solillada Sardara (a leader who has not tasted defeat). The Congress had a strong grip over the backward class, STs & SCs and minorities in the region.
However, the BJP managed to slip ahead by poaching tier-II leaders from the Congress and the JD(S).
In Bengaluru, the BJP retained all the three seats. Union Minister Sadananda Gowda defeated Krishna Byre Gowda in the North, while PC Mohan defeated Rizwan Arshad in the Central seat. In Bengaluru South, Tejasvi Surya trounced senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad by over 2 lakh votes.
In the Mumbai-Karnataka region, the BJP retained all the seats by being vocal in its support to the powerful Lingayat community. In the coastal region, through the consolidation of Hindutva votes, the BJP captured all the seats — Dakshina Kannada, Udupi-Chikamagalur and Uttara Kannada. In the central part of Karnataka, the BJP’s tactic of inducting district leaders from other parties to fight elections paid off.
Reacting to the poor performance, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President, Dinesh Gundu Rao, said: “We worked united, but the outcome was very disappointing and I personally take the responsibility and will adhere to party direction whether to continue or tender resignation.”
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.