Pulling Out All The Stops

In The End, Karnataka Was A Familiar Story. The Bjp’s Blitzkrieg Campaign And Star Campaigner Narendra Modi’s Late Charge Took It To The Cusp Of Victory Again
 

- Uday Mahurkar

FOR JOURNALISTS WHO HAVE covered the BJP campaigns, in both Gujarat and Karnataka, the contrast in mood has been stark: on December 17, 2017, a day before the Gujarat res­ ults, the party’s workers, of whatever rank, were in a state of high anxiety. On the eve of the Karnataka poll results, May 14, the mood was one of circumspect confidence. Some said the party would form the government with 130 seats, others predicted 120 seats but even the pessimists were certain the BJP would emerge as the single largest party.

In the event, the optimism proved reasonably valid. The BJP did emerge as the single largest party, of course, but it fell just short of a majority. It was unlucky to lose eight seats (exact­ ly the number that would have given it a clear majority) by less than 2,500 votes. The Congress tally, on the other hand, slid from 122 to 78 seats. The real difference between the two par­ ties was in the details: the Congress secured a slightly higher percentage of votes—37.9 per cent to the BJP’s 36.2 per cent—but the even spread of BJP’s votes due to better poll machinery at the grassroots and better poll management by party chief Amit Shah and his team delivered 104 seats compared to the Congress’s 78.

Clearly, anti­incumbency against the Congress on various counts played a big role in the BJP’s win. But yet again, it was the potent combina­ tion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah that proved decisive, bringing the party within reach of its 21st state government. Meanwhile, the Congress has been to reduced to governing just two states and a Union territory in the country.