Karnataka

of this country want a stable government. The second is that people not only taught a lesson but wiped out Congress and its allies, which betrayed the people’s mandate and insulted them by seeking power through the back door, at the first available opportunity.” The third message was that people, only and only, had faith in the BJP to provide a stable government committed to development, he added. The Congress conceded defeat, with its former CM, Siddaramiah, resigning as the party’s legislative leader. DK Shivakumar, senior party leader, said: “We have to agree with the mandate of the voters of these 15 constituencies. People have accepted the defectors. We have accepted defeat, I don’t think we have to be disheartened.”

In 2018, the BJP won 104 seats in the assembly emerging the single largest party. However, the government was formed by a coalition of the JD(S) and the Congress in a power-sharing deal where the latter, with 78 seats, allowed the former, with 37 seats, to take the chief minister’s chair. The BJP, however, didn’t give up, and continued to whittle away at legislators, mostly from the Congress. Analysts say that Congress leader Siddaramaiah’s strained relations with the JD(S) top brass may have also contributed to this. Whatever the reasons, 17 legislators resigned from their parties and the assembly on July 12, and the BJP formed the government on July 26.

The BJP won from Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Yellapur, Hirekerur, Ranibennur, Vijaynagara, Chikkaballapur, KR Pura, Yeshvanthapura, Mahalakshmi Layout and Krishnarajapete. The Congress won from Hunsur and Shivajinagar.

The lone independent candidate to win was BJP rebel Sharath Bachegowda from Hoskote.

His father BN Bachegowda is a sitting BJP MP and the son may also rejoin the party thus increasing its tally to 13 wins of the 15.

The BJP’S sweep also clarifies that there was no ill-feeling in any of the constituencies against the defectors. As many of 13 of the BJP’S candidates this time are candidates who represented either the Congress or the JD(S) in 2018. Of these, 11 won. Only two defectors, N Nagaraju from the Congress in Hosakote ,and AH Vishwanath from the JD(S) in Hunasuru, have lost. Clearly, reports that many of the defectors had to campaign under police protection because of an angry voter base were exaggerated.

Speaking to reporters after the win, chief minister BS Yediyruappa thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah for their support. Stating that the sweep was possible due to the effort of party workers and leaders, he hoped that the political instability the state has witnessed over the past 18 months will end. “I hope the Congress and JD(S) co-operate with us to provide good governance for the next three-and-half years.”

For the BJP, the outcome will be a source of relief because of recent setbacks. It scraped through in Haryana in October, with the help of Dushyant Chautala’s Jannanyak Janata Party, and it lost Maharashtra after the Shiv Sena, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party came together. A loss in Karnataka would have been embarrassing for the party, and further dented the aura of invincibility it has created with a spate of electoral wins. Given how the electorate in Maharashtra treated defectors in the recent assembly election, that was a distinct possibility.

That it hasn’t happened in Karnataka is perhaps more a function of the hold individual candidates have over their constituencies than factors such as chief minister Yediyurappa’s appeal, achievements of the state’s BJP government, or a push from Prime Minister Narendra Modi (he didn’t even campaign during the by-election; he rarely does). It is also a clear indication that the JD(S) and the Congress (the latter more than the former) have lost ground. Of the 12 seats the BJP won, ten were seats where the Congress won in 2018, and two, where the JD(S) did.

Political analyst Prof Harish Ramaswamy said, “This is undoubtedly a big boost to Yediyurappa who had fallen out of favour with party high command. He has clearly shown that he is still indispensable for the party. However, he will have to be wary of loyal BJP MLAS being upset when defectors are rewarded with cabinet berths. The biggest loser is of course Kumaraswamy who was hoping that BJP would not get enough seats and they could again become Kingmakers.”

With 11 of the defectors having won, the BJP government will now have to expand its cabinet to find space for them, or reward them in other ways. Analysts say that could pose a challenge. Already, a clamour has begun among supporters of the winning candidates for this. Yediyurappa said that he “will go to Delhi to discuss with high command and as promised, induct them (newly elected MLAS) into the cabinet.”