oppn parties Karnataka Votes Today: Congress, BJP or Hung?

News Snippets

  • SP drops two candidates owing allegiance to Azam Khan from Rampur and Moradabad
  • In Assam, a controversy erupted after a picture of UPPL leader Benjamin Basumatary, lying on a stack of Rs 500 notes circulated on social media. UPPL is an ally of the BJP
  • AAP's Jalandhar-West MP Sushil Kumar Rinku joins the BJP. He was the only AAP Lok Sabha MP
  • Supreme Court dismisses Centre's plea to review its 2023 verdict in the PMLA case
  • Close save for passengers as they remain unhurt after the wings of two planes graze at Kolkata airport. Pilots derostered and inquiry ordered by DGCA
  • Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh gets notice from the EC as well as the BJP for making ugly remarks about Mamata Banerjee's parentage
  • Sadanand Vasanth Date, who faught terrorists in the 26/11 attack and was awarded the Preisent's Police medal, has been appointed the head of the NIA
  • Centre will borrow Rs 7.5L cr in the first six months of FY25, nearly 50% of the target for the full year
  • 25 stocks, including SBI, will see same day trade settlements from today in the world's fastest settlement mode in both BSE and NSE
  • Stocks recover smartly on Wednesday: Sensex rises 526 points to 72996 and Nifty 118 points to 22123
  • Tennis: Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden reached the semifinals of the Miami Open
  • IPL: records tumble as SRH beat MI in a high-scoring match. SRH score 277/3 with 18 sixes and Mumbai score 246 with 20 sixes to fall short by 31 runs. Atotal of 38 sixes, highest in an IPL match were hit and both teams combined to score 523 runs, the highest aggregate in an IPL match
  • Amul will launch fresh milk in the US
  • IPL: RCB beat Punjab by 4 wickets as Kohli and Karthik shine with the bat
  • India strongly objected to German foreign office remarks over the arrest of delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, called it "biased assumptions"
Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena says government cannot be run from jail, hints at President's Rule in the capital ////// In a dangerous incident, the wings of two planes grazed while taxiing on the runway at Kolkata airport, all passengers were safe but DGCA ordered an inquiry and the pilots were derostered
oppn parties
Karnataka Votes Today: Congress, BJP or Hung?

By Slogger
First publised on 2018-05-12 07:40:20

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
The cacophony has died out and Karnataka will vote today to elect its next government. The state has a reputation for being a swing state. For the last 33 years, it has never returned an incumbent to power. That, and an all-out charge from the BJP, is what the Congress and Siddaramaiah are facing in their bid to capture power once more.

Despite the acrimonious nature of the campaign – charges and counter-charges flew thick and fast – no party managed to create a wave, neither in its own favour nor against the opposition. The voter has kept his cards close to his chest and successive opinion polls have shown that the state is headed for a hung assembly.

Siddaramaiah’s governance record has been most ordinary. Bangalore has been allowed to descend into an urban mess due to extreme neglect. The rest of the state is suffering from the predominance of Bangalore and the concentration of power, money and business there. There is farmer distress and the countryside is angry. Sidda has tried to deflect criticism by harping on Modi’s record at the Centre, the BJP’s Hindi speaking-North India party credentials and has tried to use caste by demanding minority status for the Lingayats. The results will show whether the people have bought his arguments.

The BJP on the other hand has highlighted Sidda’s poor governance and the plight of Bangalore to the hilt. It has also tried to use the usual Modi tactic of sabka saath sabka vikas and running down the Congress on the basis of corruption and dynastic politics. But with the scam-tainted Reddy brothers campaigning for the party, it remains to be seen the pot will get by calling the kettle black. One thing is sure; there is no wave in the favour of the BJP.

The joker in the pack is the JD(S). Although the Congress has doubted its potential of dividing the secular vote, it cannot be taken lightly, more so when MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi from neighbouring Telengana campaigning for the party. The JD(S) has its pockets of support and is most likely to emerge as the kingmaker. The BJP knows this and has tried to use this to its advantage.

At the end of it all, it is the people who have a special knack of choosing wisely. If they return a hung assembly, it is clear that they want an alliance to rule, preferring not to let one party get too strong. It depends on who gets how many seats before an alliance can take shape.

pic courtesy: news karnataka