5 Crucial Factors Why Karnataka Went To Congress

This is also the Congress' best-ever performance since 1999, when the party came to power by winning 132 seats and formed the government with S M Krishna as the chief minister. 

Published: May 13, 2023 5:00 PM IST

By Analiza Pathak | Edited by Analiza Pathak

5 Crucial Factors Why Karnataka Went To Congress
Congress workers celebrate at the party office after the party's decisive lead in the Karnataka Assembly elections, outside Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan in Ahmedabad, Saturday, May 13, 2023. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: With results in Karnataka Assembly election having gone in favour of Congress, the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular) JD(S) camps have drowned in a sense of gloom. The voters have delivered a decisive mandate for the Congress with tally standing at 137 against BJP and JD(S) who secured 63 seats and 20 seats respectively. This is also the Congress’ best-ever performance since 1999, when the party came to power by winning 132 seats and formed the government with S M Krishna as the chief minister.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai meanwhile, has conceded defeat, saying “Despite best efforts by PM, cadres, we were not up to mark.”

The PM held nine rallies and six roadshows, while home minister Amit Shah held 16 rallies and held 15 road shows after the elections were announced. BJP national president JP Nadda held 10 rallies and 16 roadshows. The elections were crucial for the BJP in view of the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Here’s what clicked for Congress in Karnataka

1. Focused on local issues:  The Congress, by and large, focused on local issues in this election and its campaign also was run by state leaders initially. However, its central leaders such as party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra pitched in subsequently.

But reports from within the party said that the state leadership was keen on keeping the campaign hyper-local and take the focus away from PM Modi. The central leadership soon made amends and stuck to the strategy. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra repeatedly said that the election was about Karnataka and not Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged voters to focus on local issues.

2. Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah Combo: DK Shivakumar, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief, and Siddaramaiah, former chief minister, positioned the party well before the people. There was no let-up in their efforts to project the ruling BJP as the most corrupt. Efforts started with the PayCM campaign months ago. The Congress didn’t just rely on its planning but also roped in political agencies to step up its campaign.

The Congress, unlike the BJP, banked heavily on its senior Karnataka leadership. That has also helped the party to win today.

3. Pre-poll ‘guarantees’:  Putting up a united front and making corruption a central theme of its campaign coupled with pre-poll ‘guarantees’ of free power and rice and unemployment dole did the trick for Congress in defeating the BJP.

The Congress has promised to implement poll guarantees’ 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti – on the very first day after coming to power in the state.

4. ’40 per cent commission’ charge against BJP:  The “40% commission government” was a political jibe used by Congress in Karnataka against the ruling BJP alleging several corruption charges under its tenure. Which was also coupled with the Adani issue, which according to several party leaders seems to have echoed with the sentiment of the people.

While extensively highlighting its five key poll ‘guarantees’, the party tried to inform the people about its charge against the BJP government of having “failed in fulfilling 90 per cent of its promises” made in its 2018 manifesto.

5. The Lingayat vote base: The Congress was aiming to attract the Lingayat vote base of the BJP by trying to project that the saffron party was neglecting the community.

While pointing at instances such as the alleged sidelining of Lingayat community leaders in the party like B S Yediyurappa, the Congress got more ammunition in a way when two senior BJP leaders from the dominant community – Jagadish Shettar (former CM) and Laxman Savadi (former Deputy CM) – joined the party over being denied ticket to contest the polls by the BJP.

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