BENGALURU: Banking big on Karnataka to make a strong foray into the south, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has received a jolt with Tuesday’s results. The by-poll result in Karnataka has sent alarm bells ringing for BJP as the Congress-JD(S) combine has proved to be potent enough to derail BJP’s ‘Mission 25’ in Karnataka for 2019.
The Congress-JD(S) coalition won 2 of the 3 Lok Sabha seats and both the Assembly seats for which by-elections were held. It is not just the result which has caused worry, however, it is the huge margins of defeat for BJP that could dent the morale of party leaders and activists in the state.
Congress has snatched the Ballari Lok Sabha seat from BJP after 15 years. VS Ugrappa, the consensus candidate of the alliance has defeated BJP’s J Shantha with a record margin of 2.28 lakh votes. Considered a fortress of mining barons Reddy brothers and Sriramulu, Ballari has fallen for Congress after 15 years. Sriramulu had won the seat in 2014 with a margin of 84,000 votes and his sister Shantha was the candidate this time.
Tremors are being felt in BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa’s own backyard as his son B Y Raghavendra had to struggle to retain the seat against Madhu Bangarappa of JD(S). Raghavendra won with a lead of over 52000 votes, but the result is ominous when viewed against the fact that his father had won it by a margin of over 3.50 lakh votes in 2014. The by-poll was necessitated after Yeddyurappa was elected to the state assembly.
BJP has suffered another big defeat in Jamakhandi assembly seat too as the Congress lead has soared to around 40,000 votes as against 3000 votes in the Assembly poll held 6 months ago.
A threat to BJP’s ambitious plans
The loss in Mandya Lok Sabha and Ramanagar assembly seats is understandable as the BJP is yet striking roots in the region. Seen by BJP strategists as a gateway to the southern part of the country, Karnataka figures prominently in the party’s plans to make a strong foray into other states in the region. The party has set a target of 25 seats out of 28 for 2019 with a slogan Mission 25. The success of Congress and JD(S) alliance in the by-poll now threatens to derail BJP’s ambitious plans.
The success has turned Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy more bullish as he exuded the confidence of strengthening the alliance for the Lok Sabha poll to humble BJP. “We see a good chance to win all the 28 seats in the state if we fight against BJP unitedly,” he said. His father, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, seeing a bigger role for himself in national politics again, is keen to use the by-poll success as a trigger to cobble up an anti-BJP front. “I will work with Rahul Gandhi and other regional leaders to strengthen the anti-BJP alliance to stop BJP’s March,” Gowda has said.
BJP which had won 17 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka in 2014 could be in trouble if Congress and JD(S) continue the alliance for 2019 Lok Sabha election. Senior Congress leader and former CM Siddaramaiah reiterated that AICC President Rahul Gandhi is committed to the alliance and declared that the Congress and JD(S) combine would win at least 23 seats.