New Delhi, May 8: The Congress today won a decisive victory in Karnataka after a gap of 15 years and seized upon the win as a welcome shower in the midst of a prolonged drought that has sapped the Grand Old Party of much credibility and scorched its government in Delhi with scams upon scams.
But with the Supreme Court’s strictures against the Centre’s handling of the coal allocation investigations coming on the same day and the question mark over the fate of two discredited cabinet ministers still hovering in the air, no one was quite sure whether the gust of cool breeze from the south of the Vindhyas portends better days to come or would prove as ephemeral as a passing summer cloud.
In and of itself, the Karnataka verdict could not have been sweeter. That the Congress has managed to perform so well despite the shroud of gloom and doom attached to it nationally shows that all is not lost for the party, especially in areas where it has strong roots and a relatively robust organisation.
But more than its own handsome tally of 121 seats this time, the bigger reason for the Congress’s cheer is the complete decimation of the BJP in Karnataka.
The BJP had made history in 2009 by forming its first state government in southern India, and many regarded Karnataka — much like Gujarat before it — as the ideal saffron laboratory that would marry Hindutva with a vibrant development agenda.
The main reason for the BJP’s rout is the exit of its erstwhile “tallest” leader in the state, B.S. Yeddyurappa, who was forced to quit as chief minister on account of corruption charges. The BJP’s failure to provide a clean government and the ugly infighting that made the “party with a difference” acquire the label of “a party wracked by differences” has also dented its campaign against Congress’s corruption.
A third reason for the Congress to crow is the failure of the much vaunted “NaMo” magic to make even the slightest dent in Karnataka.
True, Narendra Modi did not campaign extensively in the state but he does not seem to have made any impact even in the urban strongholds where he addressed big rallies towards the end of the election campaign.
