BackKarnataka election result 2023: Factors that led to Congress winning
Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023: For Congress, the polls in the state was a battle of morale, prestige and opposition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections
PremiumKarnataka Assembly Election Results 2023: The Indian National Congress swept the crucial legislative assembly elections defeating the incumbent Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government. In the win for the grand old party that was sealed when in the mid-day Congress crossed the halfway mark, several campaign factors have contributed.
While Congress leaders attributed the win to the vehement campaign against ‘40% commission’, even the influential Lingayat community turnaround also led to the Mallikrjun Kharge led party's win.
‘BJP-Mukt south India’ is what Congress is underpinning even as elected MLAs have been instructed to land in Bengaluru by the evening. Reports suggest that Congress is likely to transfer MLAs to Tamil Nadu to save from getting poached by the opposition.
The Congress successfully wresting power in Karnataka after Himachal Pradesh will be a morale booster for the party in reviving its electoral fortunes and strengthening its credentials as the main opposition player against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
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The election was also a prestige battle in a way for the grand old party with a Kannadiga Mallikarjun Kharge, who hails from Kalaburagi district, at its helm as the national president.
Karnataka Election result 2023: Likely factors that led to Congress win
Campaign against corruption
The party's' all-out attack on the BJP government over corruption allegations with the "40 per cent commission sarkar" barb, coupled with the Adani issue struck a chord with the people, according to party leaders.
Guarantees of dole
During elections campaign, the Indian National Congress has promised, ‘guarantees’. While PM Modi had binned these guarantees as ‘revdi’ cultuire of culture of freebies, this very guarantees seem to have brought the much needed boost to Congress engine.
-200 units of free power to all households
-10 kg of rice free to every member of BPL household (Anna Bhagya)
- ₹2,000 monthly assistance to woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi)
- ₹3,000 every month for graduate youth and ₹1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years
Consolidation of Muslim votes
Another key factor, according to Congress leaders, was the consolidation of the Muslim votes, which accounted for nearly 13 per cent of the electorate and were usually split between the Congress and JD(S), in its favour.
The party had promised to restore the four per cent quota for Muslims which has been scrapped by the BJP government.
The Congress manifesto's promise of banning the Bajrang Dal was picked up by the BJP and PM Modi aggressively to portray the grand old party as being against Lord Hanuman and the sentiments of Hindus.
However, it did not sway the people in Karnataka who voted against "misgovernance" and "rejected attempts at polarisation and division", Congress leaders said.
Lingayat backing
Lingayats account for 17 per cent of Karnataka's population and can potentially swing outcomes in as many as 78 seats. Several tall leaders of BJP are influential people of the Lingayat and Vokkaliga community. However, BJP's last minute attempt to consolidate vote in from the Lingayat community clearly did not pay off.
According to latest available data out of the 78, the Congress was leading in 54 seats, while the BJP is ahead in 19.
Not to forget Anti-incumbency
It is no news that Karnataka has never voted an incumbent party back to power since 1985. BJP was no exception to that.
| Party | Won | Leading | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 56 | 8 | 64 |
| Independent | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Indian National Congress | 123 | 13 | 136 |
| Janata Dal (Secular) | 19 | 1 | 20 |
| Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 202 | 22 | 224 |
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