Lok Sabha polls: How Karnataka Congress fortunes took a big hit

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: The recent Lok Sabha results in Karnataka may come as a surprise but many astute observers saw a setback for the ruling Congress as a possibility.

The Grand Old Party bagged 135 seats in last year’s Assembly polls but was reduced to nine seats out of a possible 28 in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. Here is why:

BJP-JD(S) alliance clicks

The BJP and JD(S) formed a seamless coalition as they appealed to different support bases and smooth transfer of votes between the parties was clearly visible.

The saffron party contested 25 seats and won 17 while JD(S) contested three and bagged two. The BJP under the leadership of former CM BS Yediyurappa retained the support of most Lingayats, one of the two politically dominant communities in Karnataka.

A section of Lingayats, especially the Banajiga sect, who had switched the Congress in the Assembly polls came back to the party under BJP state president BY Vijayendra, Yediyurappa’s son. Most Lingayats are concentrated in north Karnataka.

Chikkodi was the only seat Congress won in Kittur-Karnataka, a region BJP nearly swept. Congress had done well there last year.

Old Mysuru opts for allies

The JD(S) retained a chunk of the Vokkaliga vote, routing the Congress in Old Mysuru. The Grand Old Party dominated the region in Assembly polls, winning 39 of the 54 seats. In contrast, they won only two Lok Sabha seats namely Hassan and Chamarajanagara.

The results in Old Mysuru are a setback for CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga. While Siddaramaiah failed to secure a win for Congress candidate M Lakshman in Mysuru, his home district, Shivakumar’s brother DK Suresh lost in Bangalore Rural.

The CM’s keenness on the caste census may have driven away Vokkaligas and Lingayats voters as well.

Fund crunch hits expenses

Karnataka Congress was also reeling from the party’s four main bank accounts being frozen by the Income-Tax (I-T) Department in March overallegdly faulty tax returns.

The party then decided to field the kin of ministers from some seats, provided they would fund their own campaigns. It got mixed results.

The daughter of Public Works Minister Satish Jarkoholi, Priyanka, won from Chikkodi. Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre’s son Sagar won Bidar. The wife of Horticulture Minister SS Mallikarjun, Prabha won in Davangere.

Candidates fail to match up

Other candidates were no match for BJP heavyweights. Sowmya Reddy, the daughter of Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, lost Bangalore South to Tejasvi Surya.

Samyukta, the daughter of Agricultural Marketing Minister Shivanand Patil, lost in Bagalkote to PC Gaddigoudar. Moreover, BJP candidates who had lost in the Assembly polls won this time.

For instance, K Sudhakar defeated Raksha Ramaiah in Chikkaballapur and V Somanna beat SP Muddahanumegowda in Tumakuru.

Infighting helps co- alition

Two intra-party rival factions didn’t back Congressman KV Gowtham in Kolar. He was a compromise candidate because the party didn’t want to appease either faction, one led by Food and Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa and the other by former Speaker Ramesh Kumar.

Mrunal, the son of Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar, lost from Belagavi to former CM Jagadish Shettar. The minister was blamed for not taking local MLAs into confidence.

Impact of welfare schemes uneven

The Congress banked on its five guarantee schemes but they didn’t translate into votes.

Siddaramaiah experienced this in the 2018 Assembly polls when his schemes like Anna Bhagya (free rice) and Ksheera Bhagya (free milk for government school students) yielded only 80 seats compared to BJP’s 104.