As you read this, we are one day away from Karnataka’s polls. This has been a hectic summer for the political class, both in Karnataka and all over India. The campaigning in Karnataka has seen not only politicians from the state participate but national leaders from literally every party making it a point to head South. The big names that have made this election exciting are Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, J P Nadda, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, among a host of others who have turned the election into a high-decibel and high-visibility activity for the entire nation to watch on their TV screens.
Add to it a list of leaders with local lineage who have worked hard—B S Yediyurappa (former CM) , Basavaraj Bommai (current CM), Nalin Kumar Kateel (State BJP president), Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress president), and Siddaramaiah (Congress), D K Shivakumar (Congress) and H D Kumaraswamy of the JDS (all three CM aspirants)—and you have an exciting cocktail of the national and local, making for a high-pitched election battle.
Time to do a quick analysis then as the campaigning is done and dusted. As our political class takes some well-earned rest and prepares to cast their votes along with everyone else, time to see how it began and how it ended.
In more ways than one, Karnataka’s election campaigning began much before the dates of polling were actually announced. The first salvo was really fired by the Congress party with the Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi. The walkathon across India added a significant amount of traction and credibility to the brand of politics represented by Rahul and his party. The language was sober, the optics were friendly and the walk involved the masses. Rahul was attracting eyeballs. In many ways, he earned the respect of the common man for the first time in a long time. He was suddenly one among a set of leaders who could be listened to. His brand of politics seemed different, and people were ready to give it an ear.
A whole host of local political rallies that made Karnataka go into the frenzy of a build-up began. And ended. The big guns started their rallies. And they made mistakes as well. And every mistake was hastily corrected with band-aids to make them look nicer than they were. And then the list of candidates began to be announced in tranches. The first tranche had the obvious names in it. The second list was contentious and the third actually made it clear to all and sundry as to who was in and who was out. And then began the exodus. The BJP, which has experimented with newer names in this election, actually saw some biggies leave and jump ship. The Congress gloated and grabbed these names gleefully. And made a big show of it.
As Karnataka got closer to the date of polling, every party released its election manifesto. The BJP released its manifesto and revealed its cards first. And then came the Congress’ manifesto. While BJP’s manifesto remained rather matter-of-fact in its approach, the Congress party’s manifesto had a preamble that was long and detailed. And in it lay the vault of a controversy the BJP rushed to unlock. The naming of the Bajrang Dal as a contentious candidate in the list of parties to be banned in the future—gave the BJP an opportunity. In came the cry of “Bajrang Bali”, and Hanuman ji entered the campaign. While many do claim that Karnataka has already decided who to vote for—and that this will not be to the advantage of the BJP—please remember optics are important in any election. The Hanuman masks and Hanuman ji lookalikes in the campaign are optics gifts the Congress gave to the BJP on a platter in the last round of campaigning.
And then came the final roadshows. The PM has just completed a mammoth roadshow in Bengaluru, with thousands thronging to see him amidst the chants of “Jai Shri Ram”, “Jai Hanuman”, “Bolo Bajrangbali Ki Jai” and of course, the ubiquitously loud “Modi, Modi, Modi, Modi” chant. Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were in the city as well and a big show of strength was displayed. Just as Hubballi witnessed a big Congress rally.
All the prominent parties in Karnataka have used mass media to their advantage. The television, digital, radio, outdoor and print campaigns of each party have added to the grist of the political environment. The theme has been one of communication that pokes the opponent in the eye.
The BJP has led with a story that is centered on the PM and his popularity in the country. The Congress, on the other hand, has focused on its “40% commission” line. The party has put together a nifty repartee to the “double-engine sarkar” line of the BJP: a “trouble-engine sarkara”, with visuals of two engines pulling in opposite directions, keeping the state static.
Every day over the last few days leading to the polls, there was a nifty and new angle to print advertising. If the BJP had one to empower every Indian woman by talking about “Namma Modi” as the son of a poor mother who worked hard, the Congress campaign talked of the robbed savings of the common man due to high prices of LPG cylinders, petrol, diesel and a whole host of consumables in the Indian kitchen. If the Congress party published a “corruption rate card” listing the price for a government post, the BJP run a campaign saying “Bhootada Baayalli Bhagwat Geethe”(pot calling the kettle black). The campaigning retained an eye-for-an-eye philosophy as most election campaigns do. No surprises here then. But a whole lot of fun. Serious fun.
Over the many years of watching election campaigns, studying election constituencies, running opinion polls and crafting strategies that a political party needs to use, I have one insight that I personally treasure. I do believe that in an election campaign, what you don’t see is more important than what you see. Election campaigns create the optics that all of us see. These optics do contribute but are a significantly smaller part of what really decides which way the voter will sway. And that’s the beauty of an Indian election. Who is winning then? No one really knows.
On that humble note, let’s wait for May 13, when the counting begins and ends. Ends the suspense of it all as well.
Harish Bijoor
Brand Guru and Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc