Karnataka Election Results: Congress Ready To Back JDS As BJP Still Short Of Majority - 10 Points

The Karnataka election results will set the stage for more battles later this year in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and the general election in 2019

NEW DELHI: The BJP is set to win an outright majority in Karnataka, wresting another major state from the Congress ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bid for re-election in 2019. The BJP now has 21 of India's 29 states, with the Congress, which ruled the country for seven decades, reduced to "PPP" or "Punjab, Puducherry or Parivar" - as PM Modi had jibed while campaigning in Karnataka. The regional party Janata Dal Secular of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda performed better than expected but will not get to play kingmaker, with a clear verdict in favour of the BJP. Karnataka, home to India's Silicon Valley capital of Bengaluru, is the first big state election this year and will be followed by three more before 2019.

Here is the 10-point cheatsheet on Karnataka election results:

Celebrations erupted at the BJP's offices in Bengaluru, with supporters shouting victory slogans and waving the party's flag and cut-outs of PM Modi as the results trickled in. In less than three hours of counting, the BJP had crossed the half-way mark and was on its way to winning a majority on its own - without any support. The BJP is set to cross the majority mark is 112.
Karnataka delivers another epic defeat for the Congress and its President Rahul Gandhi, who failed completely in exploiting dissatisfaction over farmers unrest, lack of jobs and rising fuel prices. It will be difficult for Rahul Gandhi to claim leadership in any opposition alliance against the BJP in 2019. The party now holds only three states - Punjab, Puducherry and Mizoram.
Had the Congress formed an alliance with the Janata Dal Secular before the Karnataka election, the poll outcome would have been "very different", said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been at the forefront of attempts to evolve a non-Congress, non-BJP front ahead of the national election.
The BJP made big gains in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) belt, which was in part because of the "Sriramulu" effect. The BJP bet on B Sriramulu, a powerful SC/ST leader and a close aide of the powerful Reddy brothers of Ballari, giving him two seats to contest.
The BJP's score also indicates the Lingayats have stayed with the party despite Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of the Congress announcing minority status to them as members of a separate religion.
The BJP's own analysis was that Rahul Gandhi declaring himself a prime ministerial candidate was a big reason for the party's defeat. "The Congress played divisive politics and Siddaramaiah is not a big leader," said Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
The JDS of Deve Gowda has done better than the last time and is heading for a bigger number than the Congress would have hoped. But the regional party will not get to play kingmaker, with the BJP winning a decisive victory instead of the hung verdict projected by exit polls.
Karnataka has maintained its long-standing habit of not supporting the incumbent; no party has been re-elected in the state for 30 years. Karnataka Congress' DK Shivakumar said though "Rahul Gandhi tried his best", the local leadership including Siddaramaiah had failed the party.
BS Yeddyurappa, the presumptive chief minister who headed the BJP's first government in Karnataka in 2008, had declared a "date" for his oath ceremony even before the election, May 17 Thursday. There are reports that he has also booked a stadium.
The Karnataka election results will set the stage for more battles later this year in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and the national election in 2019.
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