Congress dethrones BJP in Karnataka

A resurgent Congress, India's main opposition, yesterday swept back to power in the southern state of Karnataka, dethroning the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party from its only southern perch in a boost to the grand old party ahead of the next general elections due early next year.

As the counting of votes of the May 10 legislative assembly elections nears the end, Congress secured a majority in the 224-member House by crossing the halfway mark of 113.

According to the Election Commission of India data, Congress has got 114 seats and is poised to form a government on its own under India's first-past-the-post system. Congress also led in 22 other seats.

On the other hand, BJP has bagged 50 seats and was ahead in 14 other seats.

Regional outfit Janata Dal (Secular) headed by former Indian prime minister H D Deve Gowda, was leading in 20 seats.

BJP state leader BS Yediyurappa -- a former chief minister -- conceded defeat.

"Victory and defeat aren't new to BJP," he told reporters. "We will introspect about the party's setback. I respectfully accept this verdict."

Celebrations broke out outside Congress headquarters in New Delhi and its state offices in different parts of India, including Karnataka's capital city Bengaluru, India's IT city, where party workers set off crackers and danced to drumbeats.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi termed his party's performance in the Karnataka assembly polls as "a victory of love over hate and claimed this will be replicated in other states."

"I thank and congratulate the people of Karnataka, party workers and leaders," Gandhi told a press conference in New Delhi.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had led BJP's campaign in Karnataka, congratulated Congress for its victory in the Karnataka elections saying "My best wishes to them in fulfilling people's aspirations."

It was a bitterly contested poll in Karnataka where the campaign had often been vitriolic and punctuated by religion, corruption and intense debates on the state government scrapping four percent reservation for other backward classes Muslims and issues such as wearing of hijab for Muslim school and college students.

For Congress, desperately looking to reverse its declining electoral fortunes and position itself as the main opposition player in the run-up to 2024 general election, Karnataka was the moment the party had been waiting for long.

"This result in Karnataka elections will be a stepping stone for Congress victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls," senior party leader Siddaramaiah, who could be the state's next chief minister, told reporters.

"I hope Rahul Gandhi will become the country's prime minister in 2024," he added.

At the core of Congress's campaign against BJP in Karnataka were charges of corruption and pre-poll promises of 200 units of power and 10 kg of rice free to every member of a below-poverty-line household.

Besides the corruption plank and its guarantees, what also worked in the Congress' favour was the Muslim vote which accounted for nearly 13 percent of the electorate, party leaders said.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra undertaken by Rahul Gandhi in Karnataka also "made a lot of difference," added party leader Shama Mohammed, referring to the Kanyakumari to Kashmir street march helmed by Rahul Gandhi who walked some 3,000 km over three months.

BJP, which had been hoping to break a 38-year jinx of Karnataka not voting an incumbent to power, was introspective in defeat. "We will do a detailed analysis. We will take these results in our stride and try to reorganise the party for next year's Lok Sabha elections," outgoing chief minister C R Bommai said.

BJP's vote share in Karnataka slipped from 36.22 in the last assembly election held in 2018 to 35.7 percent, according to Election Commission of India trends while Congress' vote share has gone up from 38.04 per cent to a possible 43 per cent.

Congress' gains are apparently from Janata Dal (S) whose vote share came down 18.36 per cent to 13.3 per cent.

The Karnataka elections witnessed a record turnout of 73.19 per cent.