By V.S. Karnic & Fakir Balaji, IANS,
Bangalore : The Bharatiya Janata Party Sunday crushed Congress hopes of halting its march in south India by winning near majority in the Karnataka assembly and will stake claim Monday to forming its first government in the south.
With almost all the 224 results of the three-phase balloting earlier this month declared, BJP had won 110 seats, two short of the halfway mark, and was in touch with independents, who have won at least six seats, to reach the magic absolute majority figure of 113.
The newly elected legislators are meeting in Bangalore Monday noon to formally elect 65-year-old B.S. Yediyurappa as their leader. BJP had projected Yediyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate during the campaign for the polls held May 10, 16 and 22.
Yediyurappa was chief minister for a week in November last year at the head of a shaky coalition with Janata Dal-Secular, headed by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.
The Congress strategy to emerge at least as the single largest party came unstuck though it did better than in the 2004 polls by winning around 80 seats. In 2004 it had managed just 65 seats.
JDS which had enjoyed power for 40 months after the 2004 split verdict, first in alliance with the Congress and then with BJP, was virtually routed as it managed to win 28 seats, 30 less than what it had bagged in 2004.
BJP had won 79 seats in 2004 and now has taken its tally close to the halfway mark of 112.
Perhaps for the first time, the Karnataka assembly polls assumed national importance as they were being held just months ahead of elections to several states in north India and the parliamentary polls due early next year.
The focus was on whether the Congress has the strategy, organizational strength and leadership capable of preventing the Lotus from blooming in the south.
Widely varying projections from pre-poll surveys and exit polls which indicated a hung assembly like in 2004 gave some hope for the Congress that it may yet achieve its goal.
Early trends from counting that began at 8 a.m. in 48 centres across the state also indicated Congress and BJP in a neck-and-neck race with JDS a distant third.
But BJP had the last laugh, though it fell short of a clear mandate by a few seats, as it trampled on JDS hopes of being a king-maker yet again and the Congress wish of regaining power, at least in alliance with JDS.
BJP topped its three-point poll plank of ‘betrayal, inflation and terrorism’ with a simple but fervent appeal: “You have given 50 years to others, please give us one chance.”
The party has got the chance after decades of waiting and praying for it.
The Bahujan Samaj Party of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and the Samajwadi Party headed by her predecessor Mulayam Singh Yadav have again failed to win a single seat.
The Samajwadi Party suffered a huge setback as its state chief and former Karnataka chief minister lost by over 40,000 votes to Yediyurappa in Shikaripura in Shimoga district, about 330 km from here.
The BSP, which contested 217 seats, did not win even one, a repeat of the 2004 showing. It needs to be seen whether and, if so, in how many seats it affected the Congress.
In 2004, the BSP’s presence was said to be the reason for the defeat of Congress candidates in over 20 seats.