Karnataka

Karnataka: JD(S)-Congress coalition’s loss is BJP’s gain

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BENGALURU: They were once friends, before they turned foes and then friends again. At least in public that is. Both acknowledged mass leaders, JDS supremo HD Devegowda and Congress leader Siddaramaiah are now staring at a battlefield of destruction, caused by their own political manoeuvring. 

While Siddaramaiah ensured the Kuruba vote does not go to the JDS, Deve Gowda made sure Vokkaliga votes did not go to the Congress as part of their ambitious ‘vote transfer’ forecast. With this, the Congress rout and Deve Gowda’s loss were all but assured in the state, in a case of mutually assured destruction. 

Reaping the benefits from this fight among both leaders was the BJP, which romped home a winner garnering an unprecedented 25 seats. In Chikballapur, where M Veerappa Moily contested, the Congress had gathered 5.4 lakh votes in the 2018 assembly elections. While Moily polled 5.6 lakh votes in 2019, the BJP votes went up from 3.35 lakh in 2018 to 7.4 lakh votes in 2018. The additional votes came from the JDS, which polled around 4.47 lakh votes in 2018, which went to the BJP instead of the Congress. Something similar happened in Kolar with KH Muniyappa and elsewhere in other seats as well. 

Both Siddaramaiah and Deve Gowda decided to pull the plug on their coalition ‘friendship’ and this is why the JDS vote went to the BJP in places like Mysore and other consituencies. In return, Deve Gowda himself saw the Congress vote go to the BJP in Tumkur, helping GS Basavaraj win. 

Political analyst B S Murthy said, “In constituency after constituency they have mutually destroyed each other, systematically transferring vote to the “enemy’s enemy.’’ When a committed party vote shifts from Congress or JDS to BJP while there is a coalition it raises suspicions.”

“Of all the constituencies surveyed only in Shivamogga the Congress transferred maximum votes to JDS,” he said adding that this could be because of the DK Shivakumar factor. DK Shivakumar who was election in-charge in Shivamogga enjoys a good rapport with the JDS and Siddaramaiah’s writ was diluted here. Both Siddaramaiah and Deve Gowda are from the erstwhile Janata Party school and have known each other very closely, having served together in the Janata Parivar for over three decades.

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