Humiliating fall of Congress titans in Karnataka
BENGALURU: The defeat could not have been more humiliating for the Congress that allied with the JDS with the sole purpose of stalling the BJP’s juggernaut in Karnataka. After nine assembly election wins and two parliamentary poll victories, Mallikarjun Kharge, often referred to as ‘Solillada Saradara’ (Chieftain who can never lose) in Kannada, lost to BJP’s Umesh Jadhav by 95,452 votes in Gulbarga.
Anti-incumbency, friends-turned-foes and a tinge of favour for dynasty politics did the veteran Congressman and Dalit leader in on Thursday. “I will always be indebted to the cadres of @INCKarnataka & people of Kalaburagi who had given me an opportunity to serve them. Congratulations to @BJP4Karnataka on a great victory in the state. Also my best wishes to Dr. Jadhav, the new MP of Kalaburagi,(SIC)” Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted on Thursday night, hours after he had conceded defeat in his home turf.
A host of ex-Congress leaders who jumped ships to the BJP to ensure their survival in Gulbarga politics- Baburao Chinchansur, Malakareddy, Malikayya Guttedar- snatched the victory away from Kharge as he took on Dr Jadhav.
The local leadership’s anger against his son and Karnataka social welfare minister Priyank Kharge did little to salvage the situation.
Another heartbreak came in the form of KH Muniyappa for the Congress. A man who has won Lok Sabha elections seven times consecutively lost by a mammoth margin of 2,10,021 to BJP’s S Muniswamy. The margin came as a bigger shock to Muniyappa who had struggled throughout his campaign to fight the raging anti-incumbency. Factionalism within his community as well as the Congress in all eight assembly segments of Kolar including Speaker Ramesh Kumar’s Srinivaspur came to be Muniyappa’s doom.
The Dalit strongman had even faced severe flak for brazen dynasty politics in 2018
assembly polls when he put his daughter up as a candidate overlooking his own aides. This ad left many unhappy.
Coalition loss for Moily?
Former CM Veerappa Moily was another titan who fell. The
OBC leader lost to Vokkaliga strongman of the BJP--Bachche Gowda by 1,82,110 votes. A wave in favour of the BJP aside, Congress insiders believe that Moily was a direct casualty of the JDS-Congress coalition.