Who Will H D Kumaraswamy Support?
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-05-12 12:59:45
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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
The BJP has left no stone unturned to ensure that it becomes the first incumbent in 38 years to return to power in Karnataka. From getting the caste equation right to conducting a spirited campaign which transformed into a blitzkrieg in the last fortnight with Prime Minister Modi speaking at 19 rallies across the state and holding a two-day mega road show in Bengaluru, the party tried to tick all the right boxes to win the elections. But the exit polls have not been in the party's favour. Just one predicts a majority for it and another says it will be ahead in a hung assembly. In contrast, one poll suggests Congress will get a majority while four others give it pole position in a hung house. But almost all exit polls are agreed that in case of a hung assembly, the JD(S) will get enough seats to play kingmaker and be courted by both the BJP and the Congress.
The JD(S), which went solo like last time, was quite aggressive on local issues during the campaign and its expected good performance proves that, contrary to ground reports that the BJP was making inroads in its strongholds, it has retained the support of its voters and is not likely to yield ground in its traditional strongholds. During the campaign the JD(S) had maintained an equal distance from both the major parties although it was more vocal against the BJP which was natural given that the latter is the ruling party. But now it has to decide who to support in case of a hung house.
Last time, the JD(S) had supported the Congress and had bagged the chief minister's chair for H D Kumaraswamy, although the alliance could not complete its term due to BJP's Operation Lotus which split the Congress. Kumaraswamy cannot expect to be chief minister if he chooses to ally with the BJP this time but a desperate Congress might once again accept the formula reached last time in order to dislodge the BJP. It remains to be seen what situation the actual results throw up tomorrow, how the JD(S) negotiates with the two parties (negotiations have already begun and it is talking to both the Congress and the BJP and some reports suggest that the party has already decided who it will support) and whose hand it finally accepts.
