BJP Karnataka spokesperson writes: We lost because of lack of leadership and diluted ideology

The challenges for the BJP in the state are: Reducing dependence on PM Modi, weeding out corruption, and introspecting on how not to become complacent

Congress supporters celebrate the party's win at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday. (Express Photo)

4 min readMay 15, 2023 09:29 AM IST First published on: May 13, 2023 at 05:52 PM IST

Congratulations to the Congress Party for its emphatic victory. Victory has many fathers and defeat is an orphan. Let us try to see how this loss for the BJP came about. The Karnataka 2023 election throws up interesting issues and challenges for the BJP. It is now apt and important to introspect.

After a fractured mandate in 2018 (with the BJP as the single-largest party with 104 seats with 36.35 per cent of total votes, 77 for Congress with 38.14 per cent of total votes, 37 for JDS with 18.3 per cent of total votes, one each for BSP and KPJP and one independent), BJP could topple the coalition of Congress and JDS to form the government in 2019, by inducting MLAs from the other parties. That was by far the greatest achievement of the BJP in Karnataka in the last four years. The rest is now history.

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If we have to narrow down the causes for the abysmal performance of the BJP in this election, four stand out.

The first is lacklustre governance. Despite the discounting factors of Covid and economic constraints, the incumbent BJP government had nothing great to showcase in terms of development, infrastructure or welfare. Fourteen ministers of the government lost the election. It says something. The last-minute tweaking of reservation also did not help.

The second is the muck of corruption. Every successive government seems to take corruption to new levels. The trend was not reversed by the BJP government. The disputable allegation of “40 per cent commission” stuck very strongly and the Madal Virupakshappa episode added to it. The experiences of the common people in dealing with government offices reinforced the feeling of dismay.

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The third is the lack of decisive leadership. Basavaraj Bommai, B S Yediyurappa’s protégé, was not able to capture the imagination of either the electorate of the state or the karyakartas of the party. No one found in him a strong leader and he was always regarded as a compromise candidate. As has been the experience of the BJP elsewhere as well, the lack of strong CM candidates has proven very costly.

Fourth, there was no ideology. BJP earlier prided itself on being the “party with a difference”. It stood out for its ideology of nationalism, idealism and fresh thinking. The induction of diverse and oftentimes persons having strong ideological opposition into the party, diluted the ideological commitment. And more than this, it brought down the morale of the karyakartas. Additionally, ideology, which has been a strong factor for the BJP, did not play any part in this election.

Congress saw blood in the water and it was quick to grab the opportunity. The “carrot and stick” approach paid rich dividends. On the one hand, it promised freebies for all sections, and on the other, it systematically and consistently developed the narrative that the incumbent BJP government was corrupt (although Congress itself does not have a great track record on corruption).

Despite all this, the committed BJP karyakartas toiled hard. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did his part. He undertook long and arduous road shows and made speeches in the scorching summer. The cadres were once again enthused and the party pulled up its socks and worked really hard in the slog overs.

Also Read | How Congress won Karnataka: Strong local leadership and effective campaigning

The BJP has to face and answer the following challenges: How can it increase its vote share and go beyond 35 per cent? How can it bring about new leadership in the state? How can the dependency on PM Modi be reduced? How can corruption be weeded out when it’s in government? How can the party be more careful in the selection of candidates? How can a sense of purpose be re-infused in the karyakartas? How can the BJP once again capture the imagination of the masses? And finally, how can the party keep from becoming complacent?

The answers to these questions can be found with greater introspection, connecting with the public and consulting experienced and well-meaning karyakartas.

The writer is Karnataka BJP spokesperson