Karnataka election result: BJP falls short despite Modi magic

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has yet again woven his magic enabling BJP emerge as the single-largest party in Karnataka. This brought him closer to his aim of reducing the Congress to "Punjab, Puducherry, Parivar Congress” or “PPP Congress”, a jibe which he had made against the grand old party during the high decibel campaign.

The saffron party left the ruling Congress far behind but was still below the majority mark in the 224 seat Assembly.

As per the latest trends, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s has either won or is leading in 104 seats, the Congress is at 78 and the Janata Dal (Secular) at 37.

However, in terms of vote share, the Congress was marginally ahead with 37.9% votes and the BJP at 36.2%. The JD(S) continued to be distant third with 18.5%.

Polling was not held in two Assembly constituencies. In Rajarajeshwarinagar election has been postponed to 28 May due to seizure of fake voter ID cards while polling was countermanded in Jayanagar constituency due to the death of the BJP candidate.

Only time will tell whether the Congress is able to avenge the embarrassment in Goa, Manipur and Meghalaya, where the BJP managed to form the government even thought the Congress was the single-largest party.

However, Karnataka has remained consistent with his long-standing habit of not providing successive terms to any government. No party in Karnataka has won a second successive term in office since 1985 when the Janata Dal under Ramakrishna Hegde had retained power.

If Karnataka too falls in its kitty, the BJP will be in charge of 21 states in the country and the Congress will be restricted to just Punjab, Mizoram and Puducherry.

With its poll campaign initially failing to take off, the BJP was heavily reliant on Modi to turn the tide and he did it in style. Increasing the number of rallies to 21 from the original 15, Modi crisscrossed the state addressing rallies one after the other.

Focusing his narrative on Congress-bashing and the Dalit push, Modi ensured his connect with masses remained not just intact but also translated into votes.

Often accused of being “anti-Dalit” the BJP’s major cause of concern was the massive nationwide Dalit outrage over the Supreme Court’s verdict that diluted the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Modi governments delayed reaction in filing a review petition.

Keeping that in mind, Modi in his rallies harped on the party’s commitment towards the cause of the Dalits and BR Ambedkar. Trying to kill two birds with one stone, Modi relentlessly attacked the Congress for its apathy towards the greatest Dalit icon Ambedkar.

He also lavished praises on his government for various pro-Dalit and pro-poor schemes and for strengthening the SC/ST Act by introducing new offences by amending the law in 2016. He also talked about how the BJP enabled Ram Nath Kovind a Dalit to get elected as the President and alleged that Sonia Gandhi did not even paid him a courtesy visit.

Modi’s Dalit assertions seemed to have paid off as the BJP made big gains in the SC/ST reserved seats.

While Modi’s increase in the number of rallies was perceived by many as a sign of BJP’s nervousness, but the party asserted the Prime Minister was their trump card and his campaign blitzkrieg like in other states particularly Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat will yet again lead to a stellar performance.

From connecting with the masses in the native language to paying reverence to local icons and asserting the commitment towards honoring local aspirations, Modi through his rallies made all the right noises.

Through the BJP's performance, PM Modi has also been able to prove that his popularity extends to the South as well.

The BJP's gains also indicate that the Lingayats have remained with the party despite Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announcing minority status to them as members of a separate religion.

As regards its performance, the BJP did well both in urban and rural areas including the traditional Congress stronghold Hyderabad Karnataka where of the 40 seats, it was leading in 14 seats as per latest trends. It was far ahead in Mumbai Karnataka leading in 30 of the 50 seats and swept coastal Karnataka with 18 of the 21 seats.

In Old Mysuru with around 60 seats, the BJP was ahead in 10 seats.

Among the major winners for the BJP are its prospective Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa who won from Shikaripura for the seventh time. He defeated Congress’ G Malatesha by over 35,000 votes. A former deputy chief minister, BJP’s R Ashoka won from Padmanabanagar constituency.

BJP’s G Somashekhara Reddy, brother of scam tainted mining baron G Janardhana Reddy, was leading from Bellary City. A former state minister, Somashekhara Reddy was charge-sheeted in 2012 by Andhra Pradesh's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in the cash-for-bail case involving his brother.

However, B Sreeramulu,a confidant of the Reddy brothers, was trailing to Chief Minister and Congress candidate Siddaramaiah from Badami.

Meanwhile joining the bustle for government formation, the BJP central eldership deputed union ministers Prakash Javdekar, J P Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan to Bengaluru.

The party also reportedly cancelled its Parliamentary board meeting that was scheduled later in the day. Yeddyurappa who was slated to come down to the national capital to discuss about government formation has been asked to stay back.

Hailing BJP’s victory, Yeddyurappa accused the Congress of “trying to subvert the mandate through dubious means”.

“This is a verdict for BJP. People have completely rejected the Congress. The fact that Siddaramaiah himself has been voted out in his own constituency shows the anger of people towards the Congress.

“Congress has been flatly rejected by people of Karnataka who have voted for change. However Congress is trying to subvert the mandate through dubious means. People of Karnataka won't allow for this to happen. Will consult with central leaders on the next course of action,” he said.

 The BJP's performance has been hailed by BJP leaders and ministers.

“People have yet again reiterated that BJP is the only pan-India party and accepted across the length and breadth of the country. Modi is the name which binds this heterogeneous nation into a single chord while Amit Shah is the person who has introduced a new political culture where all those in public life have devoted themselves 24X7 into the service of the nation. This is the emergence of true grassroots democracy,” said union minister Jitendra Singh

“Congratulations to the winners of the Karnataka elections. For those who lost, fight back. If Congress had gone into an alliance with the JD(S), the result would have been different. Very different,” she said on Twitter.