The Congress party’s overwhelming victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections has put paid for now to the grumbling that followed its earlier resounding defeats in three State Assembly elections in the Northeast, in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland. Those setbacks had again got the doomsayers prophesying the fading away of the party. It is not only clear that such obituaries were woefully premature, but that there is no obvious challenger to the Congress as the principal Opposition party in the country, and the only one with a national footprint to rival the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The campaigns, the results
The results of the Assembly elections in Karnataka were even better than most supporters of the Congress had dared hope — 135 seats and over 42% of the vote share is the party’s best-ever victory this century, in a State which had twice returned BJP governments in the last decade. The Congress’s strong campaign on the ground focused on local issues, of governance, development and social justice, including the demands of the lower castes for a fair share of the pie. The “five guarantees” issued by the party were specific, targeted and practical and focused on real answers to public discontent with unemployment, inflation and unemployment. It was easy to point to the contrast between the “40% commission government” of the BJP, versus the “100% commitment” that the Congress offered. The party also benefited from the popularity of its State leadership, especially (but not only) that of the former (and now reappointed) Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his new Deputy, State Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar. The party’s national leadership, especially party President Mallikarjun Kharge and the Gandhi siblings, played a constructive and hugely effective role, supportive of State leaders rather than being dominant. On the whole, most political observers agree that Congress ticked all the right boxes.
