Congress springs surprise in Karnataka, spoils BJP's party

BENGALURU: The BJP’s tactics for the LS polls faltered largely as a whole but the biggest fall came from Karnataka. In 2019, BJP got 27 seats from their southern bastion which fell to 17 this time.

What spoiled the BJPs party in the state was the shred electioneering work planned by the congress duo of D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah. It was the ’40 % commission’ story that helped Congress get back to power in 2023. The same modus operandi of the allegation was raised again in this LS poll helping the party put up a serious fight, unlike the 2019 trouncing.

The state BJP leadership had earlier estimated the congress to not win more than five seats in Karnataka. Things were far from settled in BJP Karnataka politics after the central leadership decided to take down the mighty Yediyurappa from power. It was deemed unwise considering the clout that the former CM nurtured across the breadth of the state.

The Congress used the Siddaramaiah government's welfare achievements and Rahul Gandhi’s popular impact to campaign for votes, unlike the BJP which had just the Modi factor. The Congress also used the infighting within the BJP to inform people about the discord brewing within the saffron party.

Meanwhile, in Telangana, which recently came to power, the Congress and the BJP shared the spoils getting eight seats each. In the state with 17 Lok Sabha constituencies, Congress and BJP won eight seats each while Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen won one seat.