In view of the Election Code of Conduct, the campaigning period for the Karnataka Assembly elections ended on Thursday evening. Now the people of this state are voting today to choose their next government. Representatives are to be elected for the 223 seats in the state. There will be no voting due to the death of BJP candidate Jayakumar during the election campaign in Jayanagar, Bangalore. The counting of votes is due on 15 May and the results will be clear by noon.
This time Karnataka election was the center of attraction around the country. There were many reasons for this. Some reasons are very natural and natural. For example, people are eyeing whether the election of Karnataka will be able to curb the electoral disharmony of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, who are succeeding in forming BJP governments in the states one after the other. Also, there is a reason that whether the Congress will be able to maintain its old fort in the south under the leadership of Siddaramaiah.
Does Campaigns Make Any Difference?
BJP’s election campaign has been the most aggressive. In the beginning, it was decided that Narendra Modi would do only seven rallies, but by the end he did a total of 21 rallies. If Modi continued to rally till the last day of campaigning, the big reason for this was that during the tenure of BS Yeddyurappa, the corrupt image of BJP had accumulated in the minds of voters which needed to be removed. In all these rallies, Modi directly attacked the ruling party in its own specific style. The rest of the work was done by Amit Shah. Shah has been camping in Karnataka for the past few months. They met local teams and were engaged in making strategies in different areas.
As far as the Congress is concerned, Rahul Gandhi also held rallies but with his humble voice, created an appeal among the people. Did they succeed In a sense, one can say yes, since his gesture was largely favorable to South India, which is non-offensive, polite and silent. Where your point is kept without attacking the opponent. Southern states have been relatively more progressive and less racist in terms of employment and capital formation.
The words and language that Modi attacked Siddaramaiah, who came from Kuruba, one of the most influential communities in the elections, were not embraced by voters. The rest of the community also does not consider it right. Regardless of the attitude of these voters and communities towards the Congress, but this attack on Siddaramaiah’s personality in the matter of political sensibility and ground mobilization has come to pass. Yeddyurappa, who campaigned on the basis of waste and allegations of corruption, has himself been jailed due to corruption. Therefore his campaign opened the cracks within the BJP.
The Janata Dal Secular (JDS) has become a family party of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda in which his sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren are left. They may get some seats, which will act as a cushion for the chair of power. It is certain that JDS is also getting ready for this role in this election.
Modi and Shah called for poets, writers to God in this election campaign. On the other hand, accused Siddaramaiah of doing divisive politics. He was constantly seen jumping from one issue to another. On one occasion, the voters of Karnataka also got to hear the names of Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutta etc. which have nothing to do with this state. This simply means that this election will work to prepare a role for the big war in 2019.
Siddaramaiah responded to the BJP’s allegations at some places, but in some places he looked absolutely calm. They are fighting Chamundeshwari and Badami. His son Dr. Yatindra is fighting Varuna. He has also supported Darshan Puttanaiah, the US-returning son of popular farmer leader Puttanaiah, who has been given the only ticket by the Swaraj India Party from Melkot. Darshan can be considered one of the most visible candidates in this election, who has a business of technology in many countries but who recently had to return to the country after the death of his father. Puttanaiah is the most popular farmer leader who had wide public support.
This time, the most experienced candidate in the Karnataka elections is Siddaramaiah who is also heavy on his contemporaries. Siddaramaiah, who has presented the budget of the state 14 times, started preparing for the elections long back. He has developed his support base on Kannadiga identity. This time, before the election, he recommended giving recognition to the Lingayat community as a separate religion. People of this community have been demanding this for a long time.
This factor can prove to be decisive since the BJP’s Chief Minister candidate comes from this community. In this regard, Siddaramaiah has removed the air of the issue. Apart from this, Siddaramaiah has sued Modi for defamation of 100 crores. How much will this affect the election, it will be understood only later.
Apart from this, minority groups, Lingayat Maths and actor Prakash Raj have also indirectly played bets on the Congress. Their issue has been very simple – run away BJP from the state due to communal politics.
Meanwhile, 10,000 voter IDs recovered from a house rented by BJP members have damaged the party’s image. There were also rumors that the BJP candidate from Badami, Sriramulu, had pending the mining mafia gang within the BJP.
150 crore ‘deal’ with Supreme Court judge to deal with cases. Another major setback came to the BJP from the Uri rumors regarding Dr Disha, daughter of Suresh Kumar, the eminent leader of Rajajinagar region, who was questioned by the police over allegations of money-sharing.
Reports
According to the journalists who are covering the election campaign, some parties have had no problem in distributing money, while some are so forceful against them that they are unable to access the money. However, a large amount of cash has been seized from the entire state. Whether the effect of this will be on the voters or not, only 15 will understand this.
Meanwhile, Jignesh Mevani, MLA from Gujarat, Dr. Kafeel Khan and human rights activist Nadeem Khan on Thursday held a press conference in Bangalore and counted the BJP in their respective states. He almost directly said, “Don’t vote for BJP”. They said that Karnataka should not develop the Modi-Yogi imprint. He told that in UP, Dalits and minorities are being targeted systematically.
Only four days later, on May 15, it will be clear who will be the next Chief Minister and the whole of India will also get an idea of how the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be. At the moment, Karnataka is happy that the nation has its eyes on it.