Why Karnataka voters did not Guarantee votes for Congress

BM Team

Karnataka voters did not Guarantee Votes for Congress .Twelve months in politics is a very long time, and Lok Sabha election results in Karnataka reflect that perfectly.

Riding high on the success of the 5 Guarantee schemes, Karnataka Congress went into the election mode way ahead, District Ministers were told to ensure a massive implementation and extensive beneficiary outreach programs.

Congress Leadership expected to win 15-18 seats, tickets were given to sons, daughters, relatives of Ministers, and Senior Leaders. Voices within the Party and opposition questioned the excess dynasty politics, but not many within the Party expressed displeasure openly and stood on the sidelines helplessly. The enthused organizational machinery that swept the 2023 Assembly Election was invisible on the ground as the Leadership believed that the Guarantee programs would lead the Party to a bigger victory.

Delay in appointing Board & Corporation Chairpersons, Leadership unwillingness to share power with the Party Workers, constant disagreements on appointments, discontent among the Party Workers, and appointment of a large number of General Secretaries and Vice Presidents just a few days before the elections without deliberation was a recipe for disaster. Also, Party Leadership’s aggressive mode of getting BJP local Leaders to join the Party was not well received by the Party rank and file and they expressed displeasure silently.

The dependency on Ministers and MLAs to deliver without any role for organizational machinery, and centralized Media and Social Media narrative seems like a repeat of 2018 for the Congress Party. Congress winning 9 out of 28 looked better in comparison to 1 out of 28 in 2019, but in reality, it is a loss for the Congress not a win for BJP. Election pundits in haste declared that Lingyats and Vokkaligas voted for the BJP-JDS alliance, but the data exposes a deeper divide. Congress candidates’ winning margins are much lesser than the winning margins of the BJP candidates, and the shift in votes to the BJP-JDS alliance has to worry the Congress more than ever, the narrative and the nature of the campaign need to be viewed with a fresh pair of eyes and with a fresh Leadership if Congress wants to play a relevant role on Karnataka in the coming years once the vote getter Siddaramiah era ends.