Karnataka will vote on Wednesday to determine the fate of 2,615 candidates in the fray in a high-stakes election where the ruling BJP will fight to break a 38-year-old anti-incumbency trend, opposition Congress attempt to script an electoral revival and JD(S) will try to stay relevant.
The outcome of the Karnataka elections could determine the future course of Indian politics, with elections due in five more states this year — Telangana, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
On poll eve, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a repeat of his Himachal Pradesh strategy, penned a personal letter to voters appealing for support to make Karnataka “the number one state in India”.
The dream of every citizen of Karnataka is my dream. Your resolve is my resolve. When we together set our minds to a goal, no force in the world can stop us. I seek your blessings in the mission of making Karnataka the number one state in the country. I sincerely appeal that you exercise your franchise on May 10 to make Karnataka the number one state,” the PM said in his emotional appeal.
The Congress sought to counter the last-minute BJP push by signing pledges to fulfil five guarantees it has promised in the state. Party president Mallikarjun Kharge posted the signed pledge sheet on Twitter even as party’s state leaders prayed at Chamundeshwari temple in Mysuru to seek divine blessings.
While the Congress camp is banking on the anti-incumbency trend of 38 years (the last time a government was re-elected was the Ramakrishna Hegde-led Janata Party in 1985), the BJP is looking to retain 104 seats it won in 2018 while concentrating on five weakest districts where it did not perform as per expectation. These districts are Belgaum, Vijayapur, Bidar, Ballari, and Bengaluru. The BJP also focused on 25 seats where victory margins in 2018 were less than 5,000. Of these, non-BJP parties had won 19.
Speaking on election eve, BJP general secretary (organization) BL Santosh, who hails from Karnataka, said: “The challenge for us is not winning but winning with a full majority.
The BJP has targeted 150 seats in a 224-member house, and hopes to cross 120 and may be touch 130.
The Congress too has the goal of 150 seats, which it hopes to wrest banking on the narrative of corruption against CM Basavaraj Bommai-led state government
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