Karnataka Election Results … Why BJP won and Congress Lost ?

The Karnataka Election Results are out and BJP has emerged as a single largest party with 110 seats. Congress won 80 seats, JDS won 28 seats and independents won 6 seats. BJP ,even though are short of majority by 3 seats , they will be able to get support from independents and claim stake for forming the Government. Unconfirmed sources say that already 4 independents are supporting BJP. It is sure now BJP set to form its first Government in South India.

I tried to analyse why BJP won and congress Lost. First let us discuss why congress lost. This is important because the loss of Congress was gain for BJP. Try to recall a Congress Leader in Karnataka. Several names will come to mind. Veerappa Moily,Oscar Fernandes, SM Krishna, Dharam Singh, Mallikarjuna Karge, Janardhan Poojary, HK Patil, Siddharamiah and so many. Now when you have so many leaders, it is pertinent that all these leaders will fight among themselves to prove their supremacy and no one would like to recognise other as the one and only one leader of Congress in Karnataka.

Lets understand how so many powerful leaders are there in Karnataka, yet no single leader of unanimous choice. Answer is simple. At congress everything is decided at High Command. In this case how one can respect the other leader  ?. Because every leader knows more the close they are to high command, better is their growth. Hence each of these leaders tried to be close to High command and in the process gained some power. They used these powers against other leaders to undermine them and in the process spoiled the party.

Of the entire lot, SM Krishna and veerappa Moily are sensible and dignified, but they are again opposed by their own colleagues. Otherwise how one would answer sending SM Krishna as Maharashtra Governor after 2004 elections. SM Krishna had charisma  and was proving treat to many other Congress leaders and hence somehow they convinced their high command to keep Krishna away from Karnataka Politics. But in 2008 elections, they called him again but it was too late. The people of Karnataka were confused and wondering who is the congress leader. This uncertainty finally translated in to votes for BJP and congress Lost.

What Congress need to do now. First and foremost they need to decentralise their power. High Command need to only monitor and  power to be given to states. Prior to this congress need to be clear who is their leader in respective states. This leader need to be given enough authority so that all other leaders listen to him. If any issue or information  is bypassed and reaches High command, high command need to neglect this and refer it back to the leader of the state.

With several successive defeats. it is very necessary for congress to do some introspection, look at role of high command and state unit,  name a leader for each state, give him authority and make him accountable. This rethinking and reorganisation is very necessary for Congress to survive.

Why BJP won. Very clear… They went to polls saying Yediyurappa is their leader. Same was the case at Gujarat, where they went to polls saying Narendra Modi is the leader. Naming a leader prior to polls may have some negative impacts especially in Karnataka where caste based politics is still above everything. However this strategy has several other benefits. The state leader is known, people know who will be their chief minister and leader has the power within state. This is the foremost reason for BJP victory.

Second reason is that the BJP understood ground levels better. Their leaders went together to people asking for mandate, while congress leaders were fighting among themselves. The third reason for BJP victory is the sympathy factor. After the back stabbing by JDS few months back, people tend to see BJP in general and yediyurappa in particular as victimised subjects. This sympathy factor might have helped BJP to gain some seats.  Overall geographically also BJP spreaded its wing and now has presence in almost all parts of Karnataka. It is a good sign for them and it is upto them now to see how good they strengthen this further.

I do not think there is any need to discuss why JDS lost so many seats. People have understood clearly the motto and goal of this opportunistic party and decided to teach them a lesson. This is evident from results and at least now Deve Gowda should know it is not always easy to fool people.

Finally people of Karnataka are happy that they have got single party governance now and hope that under  stable government rule, Karnataka will prosper. On the other hand it is just a beginning for BJP, who need to prove  that they can provide better governance than Congress and JDS. For Congress its time to do some soul searching and reorganise themselves.

Critifcally yours

Kiran