The miserable defeat in the Karnataka Assembly elections of the ruling BJP, whose tally crashed from 104 seats in the last polls to 66 now, has not only shocked the party but also shaken the belief that its high command is “invincible”.
The party central leaders themselves had taken complete control over poll preparations and done macro arrangements too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had taken up a whirlwind tour of the State, covering 18 rallies and five roadshows during his visits spanning six days. In all, more than 120 central leaders, including the party’s master strategist Amit Shah and a host of Union Ministers as well had vigorously campaigned in the State.
Though the 38-year-old poll history of the State had shown that no ruling party has been voted back to power, there was a strong belief that the BJP high command would rewrite Karnataka’s poll history. But with this setback, the high command has to rebuild its own image.
A dip in vote percentage by a mere 0.32 points has resulted in a drastic reduction of 39 seats for the BJP when compared with the previous elections when it had polled 36.22% votes. This is attributed to the complex political landscape of Karnataka marked by multi-cornered contest.
Various factors, including alleged corruption, maladministration, lacklustre performance, and political insecurity marked by groupism added to the BJP’s woes. Though the party managed to ensure a smooth transition of power by replacing veteran leader B.S. Yediyurappa with his protege Basavaraj Bommai, the latter took time to get a grip. There was also dithering on dealing with Hindutva elements which set a series of polarising narratives.
‘Operation Lotus’ and heartburns
The party’s political strategy of ‘Operation Lotus’ through which it included 16 legislators from rival camps to its fold and made several of them Ministers did not go well with its cadre as it felt alienated.
Many supporters of the BJP feel that the central leaders should have devoted more time to correcting the party government and making it people-friendly rather than waiting for the elections to prepare an elaborate poll strategy.
Some political observers also feel that the BJP central leaders’ aggressive efforts to make political inroads in the Vokkaliga- dominated Old Mysore region may have proved costly for the party. This is because such efforts did not get any additional seats to the BJP, but resulted in the Janata Dal (Secular) losing 10 to 20 seats to the Congress since the saffron party snatched a portion of votes from the regional party.
Also, the high command’s aggressive involvement in poll preparations coincided with erupting of a controversy over the country’s dairy giant Gujarat-based Amul entering into the Karnataka market to take on the State’s own dairy cooperative brand Nandini. This invigorated the issue of Kannada pride which was perceived to be hit due to the forced enforcement of Hindi.
Even the party’s experiment of denying the ticket to incumbent MLAs in 24 Assembly constituencies too did not help fight anti-incumbency completely as it lost in 13 such constituencies.
The party high command now has to rebuild the party organisation by infusing fresh blood and taking a pro-people approach.
