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By Ramakrishna Upadhya : Mixed feelings of anticipation, hope, apprehension and anxiety seemed to grip the candidates of all political parties, who had strained every nerve over the last three weeks to get people’s support for a place in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, as curtains draw on hectic campaigning on Monday evening.
Since it was a stand-alone election and Karnataka’s verdict could have a bearing on the Opposition unity at the national level ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, it turned out to be a high-voltage campaign with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues on the one hand, and Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on the other, making multiple visits to woo the voters.
The Janata Dal (Secular), being a regional party, described as a ‘serious joker’ in the pack, depended largely on two-time former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy to shoulder the campaign across the state, though towards the fag end, the 91-year-old former prime minister, HD Deve Gowda, despite his illness, rushed to his son’s help to shore up a faltering campaign.
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Snakes and mongooses
As only to be expected in a high-stake battle between Congress and the BJP, the leaders indulged in sharp exchanges, even invoking ‘snakes and mongooses’ in personal attacks on one another, though the campaign itself was largely peaceful. Surprisingly, large crowds, not necessarily hired always, were seen at public meetings and animated political debates were par for the course at pubs and restaurants, which did brisk business with IPL matches playing on television in the background.
Now, for the big question: Will the people choose the BJP, Congress, or a coalition, which includes the JD(S)?
On a personal note, I have covered some two dozen elections, both for Assembly and Parliament, in Karnataka and other states. This time, as usual, I travelled to some key constituencies in 12 districts, both in north and south Karnataka to feel the ‘pulse’ of the people. It is easy to engage in conversations with total strangers as people love to talk about politics and the merits and demerits of individual candidates. But, once you pop the question as to who is winning, they have umpteen ways of dodging it, including, putting it at the door of almighty!
In any case, the sense I get this time is that the BJP and the Congress are in a neck-and-neck battle with JD(S), though a distant third, not completely out of the race. Initially, with its aggressive campaigning on the corruption issue, dubbing the Bommai government as “40% Sarkar” and making it get considerable traction, the Congress party seemed to be surging ahead towards gaining a majority on its own. The controversies surrounding hijab, halaal and azaan earlier, had also put the BJP government on the defensive.
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But, once the candidates were finalised and the BJP faced some storms over the denial of tickets to Lingayat bigwigs like Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi and their dramatic admission to the Congress, prime minister Narendra Modi seemed to realise that without his considerable involvement, this election was as good as lost.
PM invokes 85% commission
In an aggressive campaign, he has addressed nearly 19 public meetings and held six mega roadshows across the state. He has turned the corruption on its head by invoking late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s admission that out of one rupee sent by the Centre only 15 paise reached the people to tell Congressmen that they ran “85% commission sarkar” for several decades and most of the “loot” used to go into the pockets of Congress netas and party workers.
He has effectively conveyed to the people the advantages of having “a double engine government” by pointing to several important projects sanctioned by the Centre to Karnataka like an IIT at Dharwad, an AIIMS hospital at Gadag, a cluster of toy factories at Bagalkot, several railway lines, mega road projects and new airports and promised them that he “will do much more considering the love and affection you have showered on me.”
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After the Congress party came up with its election manifesto promising to ban the Bajrang Dal along with PFI, the BJP has gone ballistic about the “anti-national stand” and “appeasement politics” of the Congress. Equating the attack on Bajrang Dal with an attack on God Hanuman, who is also known as Bajrangi, prime minister Modi roused emotions at every public meeting by beginning and ending his speeches with “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Bajrangbali ki jai.”
Kharge too sings
A panic-stricken Congress has started soft-pedaling on its proposal to ‘ban Bajrang Dal’ with leaders like former chief minister Veerappa Moily and others claiming that there was no intention to impose a ban. While KPCC president DK Shivakumar has asserted that he too is a devotee of Bajarangi, Congress president Mallikarjun Karge completed a speech at a rally with the slogan, ‘Bajrangbali ki jai.”
The Congress party, having sustained a campaign on issues of corruption, price rise and maladministration of the Bommai government suddenly finds that the focus has completely changed in the reverse direction. BJP has begun invoking fears of Congress letting loose elements like PFI, withdrawing the cow slaughter ban legislation and the anti-conversion law.
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The BJP has also issued large advertisements warning the people that if a Congress government were to be elected, they would also withdraw the reservations given to Lingayats and Vokkaligas and hand them back to the Muslim community and it would reverse the decision to introduce internal reservation given to scheduled castes.
Last, but not the least, prime minister Modi’s two hugely successful road shows in Bengaluru, which witnessed unprecedented crowds lining up the streets and cheering Modi, have been breaking the social media platforms with people sharing pictures and videos from different locations. Prime minister’s popularity was on full display and the BJP will be hoping that it will have a ripple effect throughout the state and on the polling on May 10.
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