INDIA: The Congress and BJP are engaged in a neck-and-neck contest in the Karnataka Assembly Polls for 224 seats, slated to be held on May 10, Wednesday, and with an anti-incumbency factor, the Congress has an edge, while the Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS) is expected to play a crucial role in the division of votes.
The counting of votes will take place on May 13. A host of leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leaders including Congress President Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi, have been engaged in campaigning.
Out of 224 constituencies, 36 are reserved for the SCs and 15 for the STs. Unemployment and a lack of infrastructure seem to be the issues, going against the ruling BJP.
Speaking to the Transcontinental Times, J Shankar (Bangalore) said, “It is a keen contest between the Congress and BJP, with the advantage going to the Congress, which is expected to get over 100 seats, followed by the BJP with around 95 seats. The JDS may play a crucial role since a simple majority requires 113 seats. Coastal Karnataka is a BJP stronghold. In Central Karnataka, the voters are inclined towards the Congress and JDS.”
He further added that “there is a fight between the Congress and JD(S), and in some seats, the BJP has an informal understanding with JDS candidates. Yet it remains a Congress bastion with a strong presence in the Vokkaliga community. In areas like Bangalore and Mysore, Congress rules the roost.”
“In South Karnataka, the areas bordering Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh have a strong Congress presence and, to some extent, the JD(S). The replacement of former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa with Basavaraj Bommai is also proving a disadvantage to the BJP since Yediyurappa has a strong following among the Lingayat community,” Shankar added.
Captain Dinesh Kumar (Bangalore), an aviation expert “A keen contest between the Congress and BJP is on the cards. It is a “do or die” situation, going by the height of campaigning by both parties.”
He further added, “Anti-incumbency sentiments are quite apparent. In my Byatarayanapura constituency, Krishna Byre Gowda (Congress) is way ahead compared to his opponents.”
Geeta Kolwekar (Davangere) (North Karnataka): “There is a massive following for the BJP in this area, and the scales are tipped in favour of the BJP here. There had been a massive distribution of gifts among voters by the major parties”.
Background
Karnataka, once a Congress stronghold, was captured by the Janata Party (subsequently Janata Dal (JD)) in 1983. The JD influence lasted for a decade. However, subsequently, the JD disintegrated and the Congress staged a comeback.
The BJP made inroads in 2007 when Yediyurappa ran a seven-day government. Thereafter, the state was under the president’s rule for a fairly long time. In 2008, the BJP recaptured power. In 2013, Congress bounced back and won a majority, winning 122 seats.
In 2018, it won 80 seats and formed a coalition government with the JD (S). However, it collapsed in 2019, and the BJP formed the government with Yediyurappa as the CM. He was subsequently replaced with Basavaraj Bommai. The Congress has 75 seats, and JD (S) has 28 seats in the incumbent Assembly.
Parties in the fray
BJP-224 candidates, the Congress-223 (it has extended support to Darshan Puttaiah of Sarvodaya Karnataka, in Melukote constituency), the JDS-207, the Aam Aadmi Party-209, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)-133, NCP-09, JDU-eight, CPI-07, Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti-05, CPI(M)-four, the National Peoples’ Party (NPP), (Meghalaya)-02, and the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMM)-02.
Totally 2613 candidates (including 185 women, one transgender, 918 independents, and 685 from registered unrecognised political parties) are in the fray.
Voters/booths
Voters: 5,21,73,579 crore (male: 2.62 crore, female: 2.59 crore). The 80-plus voters (12.15 lakh), the 100-plus voters (16.976), and the voters with disabilities (5.55 lakh) Polling stations—58,282 booths—are to be operated exclusively by differently-abled persons, and 1,320 booths are to be run exclusively by women.
Promises
BJP: the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the National Register of Citizens (NRC), 10 lakh job opportunities, distribution of 10 lakh housing sites, and three cylinders to BPL families for free.
Congress: Gruha Lakshmi Yojana (Rs 2,000 to each woman head of the family), Anna Bhagya (10 kilogrammes of food grains to families with BPL cards), Yuva Nidhi (Rs 3,000 a month to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 to unemployed diploma holders).
Restoration of a 4 percent minority reservation, free travel for women in State Transport buses, and an increase in reservations for SCs from 15 to 17 percent and for Scheduled Tribes from 3 to 7 percent
The Janata Dal (S): Rs. 6,000 allowances for six months to pregnant women; Rs. 2,000 monthly assistance for families of agricultural labourers; Rs. 2,000 monthly allowance for auto drivers and registered security guards; Free bicycles for 6.8 lakh high school students, five free LPG cylinders per year, restoration of the 4% Muslim quota, and high-tech hospitals and schools in all 6,006 Gramme Panchayats.
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