INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The Karnataka election is turning out to be a great thriller
Till noon, the BJP was rejoicing
Every BJP leader was jubilant, they were confident that BJP would have another state under its wing, then suddenly the numbers slipped and
were six short of the majority mark
By 3 pm, the Congress announced that it would extend support to the JD(S) to form the government
However, at the larger level, the Congress has lost an election which it should have won
And to my mind, the real winner in these elections is H D Deve Gowda.His party has done much better than expected
Deve Gowda had till today been giving mixed signals
On the face of it, he has said he is a secular person who would have no truck with the BJP
But those who know him well have all along been saying that what he says and what he means are two different things
He is a hard-core politician who does not forget his enemies
Remember that Siddaramaiah left his party in deep acrimony more than 10 years ago.Deve Gowda is as vengeful as Narendra Modi and Amit Shah
In the 2003 assembly election, when the S M Krishna-led Congress was in a position to form the government and it needed support from Deve
Gowda's party, his first condition was that he did not want Krishna, his bitter rival from the same community i.e
Vokkaliga, as Chief Minister
A lackluster Dharam Singh was chosen as the Chief Minister and only then did Deve Gowda extend support
And then his son H D Kumaraswamy revolted against him, aligned with the BJP and became the Chief Minister and brought down the coalition
government with the Congress
Deve Gowda cried that his son was good for nothing but even then it was said that the father and the son had a clear understanding and what
the son had done was well-crafted strategy
That was the time when Siddaramaiah was waiting in the wings with an ambition to succeed Deve Gowda
When his ambitions were not fulfilled, he revolted and joined the Congress
If Deve Gowda were waiting for revenge, this election was that opportunity
By the time the Congress realised its mistake, it was too late
Siddaramaiah's statements after polling that he was ready to vacate the seat for a Dalit to be the Chief Minister was a reflection of that
reality. On Monday, Siddaramaiah said he would vacate his post for a Dalit chief minister (PTI)The Congress along with political pundits
was quite gung-ho about Siddaramaiah
They were pleased that here was a leader who was strong on his own turf
The Congress let him dictate terms, Rahul Gandhi played second fiddle to him
But Siddaramaiah leading the party meant any understanding with JD(S) was out of the question during the elections
This was an opportunity for the BJP
Modi and Amit Shah forged an understanding
Modi praising Deve Gowda and vice versa was perceived by many as bad strategy which it was not
For the Congress, dependence on Siddaramaiah was the blunder but then it had very little choice
In no way could it have dumped him
And now it is paying the price.Siddaramaiah played the card of sub-nationalism and Kannadiga pride but obviously did not get any dividend
It seems to have backfired or maybe it did not catch the imagination of the people
The card of a separate flag for the state did not help either But
Modi, being a smart politician, realised that Kannadiga pride might work for the Congress
So while campaigning, he dropped names of war veterans like Field Marshal Cariappa and General KS Thimayya and spoke of how Congress leader
Nehru had insulted the two Kannadiga war heroes
Historians mocked him by saying that the Prime Minster does not know history
But the more this fact was debated, the more the discussion veered to how the Congress had insulted Kannadiga pride
The problem with intellectuals and secular warriors is that they want to fight an intellectual battle with Modi and Amit Shah, who have more
ears on the ground and probably understand people's psychology better than their contemporaries
Modi has proved yet again that elections are not about facts but about fiction, about emotion, not reason
It is also about getting the chemistry right on the ground. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a campaign rally in KarnatakaOne thing has to
be understood, whether we like it or not, Modi has gladiatorial skills
He fights every election with a killer instinct
For him, every election is a matter of life and death
He does not leave a single stone unturned
For him, what matters is victory
And in his opinion, it is the end which justifies the means.Let me ask a question
How many leaders and political parties would have dared to seek the support of the Reddy brothers How many would have dared declare a
tainted leader like Yeddyurappa the Chief Ministerial candidate The Reddy brothers for the past few years have been treated as untouchable
Leaders were not ready to touch them with a barge pole
But the BJP went ahead and gave tickets to them
Sriramulu was given the hint that he would be the Deputy Chief Minister if the BJP formed the government
Even Yeddyurappa was reluctant to go with them
But Modi and Amit Shah did not flinch
Projecting Yeddyurappa was important for the consolidation of Lingayat votes at a time when Siddaramaiah declared them a separate religion
Vajpayee and Advani would have hesitated to bring back Yeddyurappa and aligning with the Reddy brothers
But Modi and Amit Shah don't suffer from such complexes.The organisational leviathan which the RSS and BJP have painstakingly built over the
years is a huge plus for Modi
Congress and other political parties don't work on their organizations and they don't care about their cadre
They wake up only at the time of elections
This strategy won't work for them
Especially since the RSS cadre is active throughout the year
The CPM could rule West Bengal for 35 years because every other person in the state was a communist
Today, the hard fact is that almost every other person in our neighbourhood is someone who talks about Hindutva
Does the opposition have a strategy to counter this I am afraid - No.(Ashutosh joined the Aam Aadmi Party in January 2014.)Disclaimer: The
opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author
The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of TheIndianSubcontinent and TheIndianSubcontinent does not assume
any responsibility or liability for the same.For the latest Election Results Live Updates from Karnataka log on to
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