Karnataka verdict makes Congress' task tougher for 2019 Lok Sabha elections
The results of Karnataka assembly polls must have came as a disappointment for the Congress party and its ambitions for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, but it can take some solace from the fact that it was able to deny the Bhartiya Janata Party an outright victory in the crucial southern state.
The results are likely to boost the present churning to forge an anti-BJP front for the next general elections with opposition parties expected to exert more pressure on the Congress to go for state-specific alliances even in states where it is the main force against the BJP.
The party's decision to support Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) in the government formation in Karnataka to prevent BJP from coming to power has implications for the party's preparations for the 2019 elections.
While it will be required to share political space with JD-S in Karnataka when a coalition government is formed, there will be demands from other parties for alliances in states such as Madhya Praesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh which will go to the polls later this year.
The Karnataka elections were crucial for the Congress to build momentum for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and for three assembly polls later this year.
It was also significant to raise morale of Congress workers as the party is in power now only in two other states – Punjab and Mizoram, besides the union territory of Puducherry.
The results were also seen as crucial to boost Congress President Rahul Gandhi's image as an effective campaigner against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in view of their likely run-in in the 2019 polls.
The election saw the Congress put its heart and soul in the campaign, with Gandhi campaigning in a large number of constituencies but the results showed party's vulnerability to BJP's skills at executing social coalitions, micromanagement and giving intensity to campaign.
Gandhi had spearheaded the party's campaign in Karnataka with frontal attacks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi but it apparently did not have the kind of impact the party was hoping for – far from it.
Gandhi repeatedly hammered the issues of jobs, atrocities against Dalits and women and the multi-crore banking frauds during his campaign.
The Congress suffered a sharp drop in its numbers in Karnataka despite favourable factors such as apparent lack of anti-incumbency and the party having a strong state leader in Siddaramaiah whose government was seen to have delivered on pro-poor schemes in the last five years.
But it was successful in garnering more votes than the BJP, while getting 26 less number of seats at 78. Also, had it fought jointly with JD(S) in a pre-poll alliance, the total tally of the two parties, at over 54 per cent of votes, would have overshot BJP's by a large number. This shows a lack of planning or political vision.