With his approach based on 3 pillars — mass outreach, visible leadership & enthusiastic cadre — D. K. Shivakumar had kept up pressure on the BJP government consistently.
Ministers who lost their seats include Deputy CM & Minister of Major-Medium Irrigation Govind Karjol, and V. Somanna, the Minister for Housing and Infrastructure Development.
BJP changed strategy closer to polls and sought to underplay Hindutva, but reverted to it in last leg of campaign. While campaigning, trio frequently spoke about Tipu Sultan, hijab, halal.
At a strike rate of 45%, Assam CM has done the best — the party won 5 of 11 seats where he addressed rallies. UP CM Adityanath and Amit Shah had strike rate of 44 & 34%.
While the party has won 19 seats in the 224-member Karnataka assembly, its tally in 11 Vokkaliga-dominated districts of south Karnataka, a traditional JD(S) support base, is just 15 of 73 seats.
BJP tally went down from 30 to 16 in the region. Anger among sections of Lingayats was a major factor as several religious & community leaders asked followers not to back the party.
SDPI is the political wing of Islamist organisation PFI. This election was the first since PFI was banned by Union govt. Karnataka has a 13 per cent Muslim population.
It would be a disservice to the women of Hassan to look at Prajwal Revanna’s alleged abuse of power as a ‘sex scandal’. Allegations against him show what ‘absolute power corrupts absolutely’ actually means.
Companies are borrowing more from banks and public. Economists say high capacity utilisation & growing new orders could set stage for renewed investment push by India Inc.
New Delhi has, in past, too, objected to Chinese construction activities in Shaksgam Valley. Work in this strategic region gathered pace after the 2017 Doklam stand-off.
A theme has not yet emerged for BJP & people see lack of a contest, which makes it unexciting. For all these reasons, 2024 is turning out to be an unexpectedly theme-less election.
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