If the people of Karnataka knew exactly what they were doing, the politicians are not so sure of themselves. The results of the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections show that the voter made a clear distinction between the Centre and the state. He has returned the National Democratic Alliance to New Delhi while allowing the Janata Dal (Secular), headed by the former prime minister, Mr H.D. Deve Gowda, to pick up most of the votes withheld from the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly ballot. This split the assembly vote three ways, giving the BJP 79 of the 224 seats, its ally, the Janata Dal (United), 5, the Congress 65 and the Janata Dal(S) 58. Perhaps the most striking feature of this outcome is the fact that it is not the Congress that has gained from the voters’ decision, but the Janata Dal(S), which is really a comment on the out-going state government’s performance. Hi-tech success did not mean extra votes. But with 29 short of majority, the NDA must wait to see what the Congress and the Janata Dal(S) manage to do with their numbers, before it can make a move.

Two parties, which fought the elections independently of each other and found the results to be closely matched, are unlikely to be the most reasonable allies. The Janata Dal(S), which has the lowest number of seats but has emerged in the most advantageous position in the three-cornered contest, has its own terms to implement. Although it has said it will not go with the BJP, the threat is always there, especially since the BJP says that it is willing to support a Janata Dal(S) government from the outside. The Congress’s eagerness to lead the coalition is in sharp contrast to all the other parties’ apparent willingness to sit in opposition. The Janata Dal(S) is playing all these cards. Unfortunately for the Congress, arithmetically and morally, its position as potential government leader is rather weak. A large percentage of the electorate has criticized the party for increase in corruption and the worsening of drinking water and power supplies. Among the two weightiest caste formations in the state, the Vokkaliga vote went mainly to the Congress, for the outgoing chief minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, is a prominent Vokkaliga leader. But with the death of Ramakrishna Hegde, the Lingayat vote has been attracted to the BJP-Janata Dal(U) combine, which gave the NDA very good returns in the north. At the same time, Karnataka, quite uncharacteristically, has not made a clear bi-polar choice. The large number of BJP members of parliament it has sent to Delhi will sit in opposition, while a restless coalition is likely to rule in the state.