After Gujarat, action shifts to Karnataka

BENGALURU: After the high-voltage elections in Gujarat, action will soon shift to Karnataka. BJP is keen to wrest power from the Congress in the state and the saffron party’s hard-fought victory in Modi’s home state is likely to bolster the party leaders’ confidence ahead of the 2018 assembly polls.Although the Gujarat election results may not directly impact Karnataka elections, it has yet again proved that the party largely depends on the Modi-Shah factor to win elections, and the BJP central leaders will be playing a crucial role in the state elections, too.

In Karnataka, the BJP has an added advantage with Lingayat strongman B S Yeddyurappa leading its campaign. Unlike in Gujarat, it doesn’t have to deal with anti-incumbency factor or face anger of any community like Patidars (in Gujarat).Given all those factors, BJP seems to be on the right track and party chief Shah is expected to sharpen the party’s strategy by camping in Karnataka to help it achieve Mission-150. The party’s campaign for change or ‘Parivartan’, too, is receiving a good response.   

Political analyst Sandeep Shastri, however, says depending too much on central leadership may not work well for BJP in Karnataka where Congress has a strong leader in Siddaramaiah.“In Karnataka, Congress has a strong local leader, which was not the case in Gujarat. The BJP has to ask itself whether strong central leadership alone is enough,” he said.Examples of Bihar and Delhi proved that when BJP’s opponents had a strong and credible local leadership, the party was defeated.

In Gujarat, too, although Congress missed an opportunity to return to power after two decades of BJP rule, it still did improve its performance.“Congress will be on a high in wanting to defend itself in Karnataka. For Congress, it’s critical as its survival as a national party depends on retaining Karnataka,’’ Shastri said.Siddaramaiah’s carefully cultivated image of being a socialist leader, whose government announced a number of welfare measures for poor, backward classes and minorities can work for him, says political analyst Dr Muzaffar Assadi.

Apart from his programmes focused on backward classes and minorities, Siddaramaiah is also trying to put BJP on the back-foot by raking up issues like Kannada pride. The Congress also seems to be working on a strategy to divide the strong Veerashaiva-Lingayat community to dent the BJP vote bank.
Congress leaders are campaigning for a separate Lingayat religion. It is, however, not clear if that works for the party. The BJP is trying to highlight what it terms as Siddaramaiah government’s failure on all fronts.

For Congress and BJP, winning Karnataka is critical. BJP cannot afford to collapse in a state that it considers as a gateway to South India.Both the parties are going all guns blazing by launching campaigns that are drawing crowds. The challenge before the BJP and the Congress leaders is to sustain that momentum and convert the response during the rallies into electoral dividends.The parties cannot afford to ignore the presence of the third force -- the JD (S) -- the only regional party with its presence in Old Mysore region and North Karnataka. The party led by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda will play a crucial role in the formation of the next government if either of the national parties fail to get a clear majority.

Gujarat results will not impact state election’s outcome, says CM
Ballari: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said that Gujarat election results will not have any impact on the state. He was speaking after laying the foundation stone for the work to fill up water to Malavi reservoir from Tungabhadra dam in Hagarabommanahalli taluk to irrigate 7,379 acres. He said the issues in Karnataka and Gujarat are different, and the winning formula of BJP will not work here. “We will retain power in the state.

Based on my 40 years of political experience, I can say that the people are with the government,” he added. He said senior Congress leader Shankar Singh Waghela quitting the party proved costly to the Congress, which had hoped to encash upon the anti-incumbency to come to power. “The Congress might have lost the polls in Gujarat, but its vote share has increased in comparison to earlier assembly polls. Efforts of AICC president Rahul Gandhi yielded results in Gujarat,” he added. Stating that Modi and Amit Shah being the locals made a difference, Siddaramaiah said, “The Prime Minister visited Gujarat at least 50 times. All the BJP CMs camped there ahead of polls. I did not go to Gujarat even once,” he said.