BENGALURU: After months of hectic political activity, fiery speeches, crackling campaigns, high-voltage public rallies, catchy quotes and headline-grabbing personal attacks, Friday seemed like the calm before the storm in Karnataka. People in the state will vote on Saturday to elect their next government in an election that is widely expected to set the tone for the coming assembly polls in other states and the general elections in 2019.
After putting on display all their might to woo the voters, it is now waiting and watch for the three major players -- BJP, Congress and Janata Dal-Secular. While the Congress has fastened its hopes on the “lack of serious anti-incumbency” against the Siddaramaiah government, the BJP hopes to ride the “Modi wave” with its Hindutva surfboard. Caught between the two giants, the JD(S) is sitting tight hoping to gain enough seats to command a significant political role in Karnataka.
Personal attacks took centre stage during the intensive electioneering that the parties undertook. While Siddaramaiah imitated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “sabka saath, sabka vikaas” phrase to mock him, the PM termed the Congress government in Karnataka “10% government”, alluding to corruption in the administration. While the PM and BJP chief Amit Shah talked about Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s ancestry and “arrogance”, the latter replied in kind by calling Modi “a liar”.
For the BJP, which has been winning election after election in the country but is also facing a lot of flak for the policies of its government at the Centre, a victory in Karnataka will be a confidence-booster ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. With no real presence in any other southern state, Karnataka is the BJP’s only chance of getting a foothold in South India. Such is the party’s focus on winning Karnataka that it has accommodated tainted candidates fully aware of the dent it would leave on the party’s “zero tolerance to corruption” push.
The Congress’ strategy to project local leadership over central leadership was a world apart from the BJP’s Modi-Shah-dependent campaign. Welfare schemes of the Congress government have been a hit with the masses while Siddaramaiah’s image of a performing chief minister has boosted his position within the party and the party’s position in the state. The Congress that came to power due to the heavy anti-incumbency against the BJP in 2013, hopes to return on its own merit this time around. Siddaramaiah, who has been leading the Congress’ campaign, strategically built the Kannada pride agenda and “insider versus outsider” narrative to allow the Congress to come across as a party that cared about regionalism.
For the JD(S), it is a battle for survival. Caught between two national parties, H D Deve Gowda’s party hopes to remain a significant political entity, if not the one that forms the government on its own. The JD(S) planned its campaigns only around constituencies where it has the highest chance of victory. Kumaraswamy toured 84 constituencies thrice in the last four months. His strategy was simple -- use all your resources on your best shot at victory.
