Narendra Pani Photo Credit: File photo
Political analysts and experts analyzing the May 13 election results, in which the Congress won a landslide victory over the BJP and the JD(S), said the winning party sidelined its rivals as it focused on local issues. And got the support of all the communities.
Professor Narendra Pani of the National Institute of Advanced Studies said that the people of Karnataka have given a very strong mandate in the recently held elections.
Pro. Pani said that the people of the state voted on local issues. “It is essentially a vote for local issues and local leaders. BJP leaders brought many star campaigners from outside. However, it did not work for him,” Prof. Pani said.
Narayan A. Azim teaches Political Philosophy and Indian Politics, Law and Governance and Governance Challenges in India at Azim Premji University. Said that the people of the state have defeated divisive politics and exclusionary development.
“The poor handed this victory to the Congress for being on their side. Karnataka has defeated divisive politics and exclusionary development, at least for the time being. In the process, the idea of Karnataka has won,” Mr. Narayan said.
Chandan Gowda | photo credit: file photo
Professor Chandan Gowda of the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru, said that the main takeaway from the election results is that the Congress has received high support among all communities across the state. He said that communities which had identified with a political party in the past have not done so this time.
“A large section of Lingayats were with the BJP, but now they have supported the Congress. This could be due to factors like sidelining of Lingayat leaders and dropping of BS Yediyurappa. The Vokkaligas, usually identified with the JD(S), have supported the Congress in large numbers this time. Muslim votes have fallen heavily behind the Congress. The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes have also voted for the Congress in large numbers,” said Professor Gowda.
He also said that Hindutva politics has not been very popular in most parts of the state.