The Election Commission has announced the schedule of the Karnataka Assembly elections, and the tussle for power is at an all-time high. The ruling BJP is actively seeking to break a forty-year-old jinx where no political party has been reelected for a second term.
No political party has been able to win the Karnataka assembly elections for two consecutive terms since 1985. The last time a party achieved reelection was in 1985 when JD(S) led by Ramakrishna Hegde returned to power for a second term. To maintain its dominance in South India, the BJP is looking to rewrite history. The Congress is eager to capture power to boost the morale of the party workers to establish itself as the main opposition party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
To secure an absolute majority in the assembly, the BJP aims to win at least 150 seats. The BJP seeks to prevent a repeat of 2018, when it first won the election as the only party, but was unable to form the government. Congress and JDS(S) then joined hands to maintain power.
Next, it will be interesting to see whether the JD(S) led by Deve Gowda, will act as a “kingmaker” and influence the formation of the government if no party receives a majority. The initial list of candidates for 124 and 93 seats, respectively, has been made public by Congress and JD(S).
Although the key players in the state’s political arena are the BJP, Congress and JD(S), other political parties are also trying their luck in Karnataka. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is trying to gain a foothold in the state. Apart from it, other smaller parties like Janardhana Reddy’s Kalyan Rajya Pragati Party (KRPP), Bahujan Samaj Party, SDPI and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) will contest on selected seats.
The BJP’s vote bank is visible in the northern and central regions due to the presence of members of the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, whilst the votes for the Congress are evenly distributed across the state. Lingayats make up 17%, Okkaligas 15%, Other Backward Classes (OBC) 35%, Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes 18%, Muslims 12.92%, and Brahmins 3% of Karnataka’s total population.
Meanwhile, the BJP suffered a setback recently in the form of the arrest of MLA Madal Virupakshappa and her son in a bribery case. The Congress and the JD(S) have taken this opportunity to lash out at the ruling party and use it as a trump card in their campaigns.
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