BJP’s best ever, Congress's worst ever show in K'taka in 2019 LS election

A year ago, BJP leader B S Yeddyurappa, after his unsuccessful attempt to form the government in Karnataka and had to sit in the opposition, told Congress leader D K Shivakumar Janata Dal (Secular) father-son duo will finish the Congress party sooner or later. “I won’t talk about you. You aspire to be a Chief Minister and I respect that. My fight is not against Congress, but JD(S). Let me mark this, if the father-son duo does not finish off Congress in Karnataka, change my name,” he said.

Exactly a year late, his words haunt the Congress party in Karnataka. Congress braces for its worst defeat in Karnataka. At 7:30 pm on Thursday, the results and trends showed that the JD(S) would likely get one seat, Congress one seat, BJP-supported Independent one seat, and BJP 25 seats.

The JD(S)-Congress, which formed a coalition with 118 seats, a wafer-thin majority in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, had held only two seats in the Lok Sabha election. Congress was leading in Bangalore Rural, while the JD(S) won the Hassan seat.

Also read: Karnataka Congress may not recover quickly if old wounds don’t heal

In rest of the constituencies (24), excluding Mandya, BJP was in the lead. The performance remains BJP’s best in the state.

While the much talked about Mandya seat went in favour of the BJP supported independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh, JD(S) which contested in eight LS seats, is set to lose all, except in Hassan. While party supremo Deve Gowda is set to lose from Tumkur, his grandson Prajwal Revanna won from Hassan.

Meanwhile, BJP successfully campaigned to rout all tall leaders of Congress—which effectively worked the way the party wished. Congress leaders like Mallikarjuna Kharge from Gulbara, K H Muniyappa from  Kolar, Veerappa Moily from Chikkaballapur, V S Ugrappa from Ballari, and Eshwar Khandre from Bidar were all set to lose the election. In Chamarajnagar, the party was in a neck-to-neck fight trailing by a 1,200 vote margin.

BJP candidate Anant Kumar Hegde, who spewed hatred at Muslims, won by a margin of some 4.8 lakh votes in Uttara Kannada. Similarly, 28-year-old Tejasvi Surya from Bangalore South and woman contestant Shobha Karanjdlaje from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru were leading by a margin of 3.2 lakh votes.

From coastal areas to Lignayat belt in North Karnataka and Central Karnataka, the Cauvery belt in Southern Karnataka and urban pockets of Bengaluru, the BJP won all across. While the Congress leaders kept away from media glare, it accepted the defeat and the party president Dinesh Gundu Rao congratulated BJP on twitter for its resounding victory. “In a democracy people’s verdict is sacrosanct. I wish Mr Modi the very best and hope in his second term as PM will build a stronger, more prosperous and inclusive India,” Rao tweeted.

Meanwhile, actor Prakash Raj, whose candidature was expected to break into the secular votes in Bangalore Central, garnered about 2.42% of the total votes. He may lose deposit.

Raj tweeted saying it was a solid slap on his face, and as more abuse, troll and humiliation come his way, his fight for secular India will continue.

Political analyst Narendra Pani said it will take a long time for the JD(S) to gain ground. And, as for the Congress, there will be a generational change with the tall leaders losing and the party may face resistance if the State were to go for repoll, Pani added.

It’s not clear if the BJP will go with the support of Congress-JD(S) rebel MLAs and try to form the government, or will it ask for dissolution of the Assembly and seek re-election.

BJP leaders appealed to Chief Minister Kumaraswamy to resign on moral grounds. “Owning moral responsibility, the JD-U’s Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde set an example by resigning when his party suffered a defeat in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. On similar grounds, Kumaraswamy should resign,” R Ashoka, BJP leader said.