|
BJP touches South Pole; Cong should read straws in the wind
WSN Network
 BANGALORE/NEW
DELHI: Any election in the poll year is keenly watched to see any
straws in the wind and Karnataka was no different. The BJP made
history last Sunday as it planted its first saffron flag in the
South, winning 110 seats in a hard-fought election for Karnataka’s
224-member Assembly. It has now tied up five of the six Independent
MLAs and has submitted a list of 115 to the Governor as a claimant
for power.
BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa, sounds
triumphant and is likely to be sworn in as chief minister just as
this WSN edition is going to the press.
The Congress' political debacle in Karnataka has put a question mark
on its credibility and the ruling UPA from here onwards needs to be
very specific amid its sweeping differences and reluctance to
certain issues which crafted uncertainty amongst the general public
resulting in their defeat in Karnataka. The failure in controlling
price of essential commodities and approach to farmers’ plight
together influenced the electoral gain and loss.
Ahead of the 2009 General election, the Centre’s policies towards
inclusive growth, with a tag of pro-aam aadmi, in the fifth and
final year of the office would set the course for future alliance
politics of UPA. Karnataka poll certainly has overweight on national
politics considering the earlier sweeping victory of Hindutva wadi
BJP in
Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
If its best bet is Rahul Gandhi, God help it. What any party needs
to do is to bring transformation at the grass root level and
transform itself.
For the record, the Congress won 80 seats, retaining much of its
voteshare at 34.6 per cent, getting 15 seats more than its previous
haul of 65 in 2004. The biggest loser was the Janata Dal (S) and the
father and son duo of Messrs H.D. Deve Gowda and H.D. Kumaraswamy,
who were restricted to their traditional rural vote base, winning 26
of a total of 28 from the southern districts, down from their 2004
tally of 58.
The JD(S) clearly took a beating at the hands of the BJP, which
cashed in on the twin election planks that played out — the
"betrayal" by the JD(S) as well as the plea to be given a chance to
run a single-party government.
Of course, the BJP’s victory was also because of Karnataka’s
fractious caste and cash-rich politics. There was a consolidation of
the Lingayat vote in the BJP’s favour and a fracturing of the
Vokkaliga vote between the Congress and the JD(S).
28
May,
2008
|
Read Also