BJP gets its southern break

The Congress finished 30 seats behind the BJP with 80 while the JDS — the biggest loser from the 2004 polls hung on to 28 seats. The CPI (M) won the remaining one seat. The BJP had won 79 seats in 2004 — its best performance till then, while the Congress and JDS had won 65 and 58 respectively.

The final constituency-wise graphic for the 2008 polls, following the announcement of all results, however, saw saffron emblazoned through the middle of the Karnataka map. The BJP’s chief minister nominee B S Yeddyurappa, who trumped the hitherto undefeated stalwart S Bangarappa, after a triumphant entry to the party office in Bangalore on Sunday afternoon said his party’s mantra for the state will be “development, development, development.”

“Our dream is to rid the state of corruption and terrorism. Our solo agenda is the progress of Karnataka. My responsibility is also to maintain peace and security,” Yeddyurappa announced.

The BJP is scheduled to hold a meeting of its legislators on Monday before approaching the Governor to stake the claim to form the government. Asked about the marginal shortfall in numbers, BJP leader H N Ananthkumar said the party would be in a position to form a government in the next two to three days.

With several factors going its way, including an indecisive Congress, a sympathy factor over a betrayal by the JDS in November 2007, the credit of several pro-people initiatives made during the coalition with the JDS and a rallying around the clearly identified chief ministerial candidate Yeddyurappa paved the way for the BJP victory.

Impressions of a tacit alliance between the Congress, the JDS, the Samajwadi Party and its Karnataka leader S Bangarappa, to defeat the BJP, which gained ground during the campaigning phase, seem to have also worked in favour of the BJP.

Among the sizable breakthroughs achieved by the BJP was the virtual takeover of the Bangalore Urban region, a Congress bastion in recent years, capturing 17 out of 28 seats and leaving the Congress with just 10 and the JDS a single seat. Former Chief Minister S M Krishna who accepted moral responsibility as the campaign manager for the Congress failure said he would not like to blame anybody for the defeat in Bangalore and the state.

The JDS which came down from the 58 seats they achieved in the 2004 polls managed to hold control over their southern bastions in Hassan, Mandya and Ramanagar but slipped drastically in the northern Karnataka regions where they had made gains last time. Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy also recorded one of the highest margins of victory by posting a margin of over 47,000 votes over his nearest rival H Rudresh of the BJP.

Following the results, Kumaraswamy said he should not be blamed for the BJP march to victory in Karnataka and added that his party has been worse off in the past. The keenly watched mining district of Bellary was virtually swept by the BJP—winning eight out of nine seats and putting immense power in the hands of the Reddy brothers who hail from the region and are amongst the biggest mining groups in the state.

The BJP also stormed the Bangarappa bastion in the Shimoga district with its party candidate H Halappa trouncing two Bangarappa sons in the Sorab constituency and Bangarappa himself losing by 43,000 votes to Yeddyurappa in Shikharipura. Several stars in the Congress firmament fell to relatively new candidates.

Former chief minister Dharam Singh sank to his first defeat in nine elections losing by 70 votes to a young BJP candidate Doddappagouda Naribol. Former home minister M P Prakash, who jumped from the JDS to the Congress, was defeated by the BJP’s Karunakar Reddy in the Harappanahalli constituency in Bellary.

Former UPA minister, Kannada film star and Congress candidate M H Ambareesh was humbled in the Srirangapatna constituency by a JDS candidate while another key Congress leader H K Patil was defeated in the Gadag constituency by the BJP.

Total Seats 224

04

BJP 79

CONG 65

JDS 58

Others 22

08

BJP 110

CONG 80

JDS 28

Others 6