Karnataka marks its date with democracy today

BANGALORE: As Karnataka goes to the polls today, the Congress is looking to return to power after a long break. Most opinion polls give the party the edge. Some indicate the JD(S) might hold the key to government formation. Polling time has been extended by an hour, allowing voters to exercise their franchise between 7am and 6pm. Votes will be counted on May 8. Results are expected to be in by late afternoon the same day. The Congress is confident it won't need crutches once the results are in. Its calculations are based on the expectation of a decisive voter mood that is wary of a coalition government held to the whims of a whimsical partner like the JD(S). The BJP, which has squandered its first opportunity to make a mark in south India, looks certain to be ousted from power. BS Yeddyurappa, the breakaway Lingayat strongman, may ensure the BJP's defeat, but most pollsters do not give his Karnataka Janata Paksha more than a handful of seats. Punch the EVM, hope for the best The scams weighing down UPA-2 at the Centre may not materially alter the Karnataka result given the BJP's troubles in the state, political circles feel. This might help the Congress overcome some glitches in seat allotment and campaign coordination. If the Congress wins, as is expected, the focus will shift to a tussle for the chief ministership, with the party having several contenders. For the BJP, riven with dissensions, the challenge will be to retain a respectable presence in the state assembly - a feat that could mean getting over 40 seats and limiting the KJP to around a dozen. Congress sources feel the majority mark is within grasp. If this assessment turns out to be right, it will bring some cheer amid a gloomy political season that has seen the central government reel from one controversy to another. In almost all constituencies, the contest is between the BJP, Congress, JD(S), Yeddyurappa's KJP and the BSR Congress of B Sriramulu. The Loksatta Party has fielded a couple of candidates. There are an estimated 2,900 candidates. The Congress and BJP deployed their top guns during the campaign. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vicepresident Rahul Gandhi were the party's chief campaigners, while the BJP flew in Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and patriarch LK Advani. The chief canvassers for the JD(S) were former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda and state party chief HD Kumaraswamy. The BJP had won 110 seats in 2008, an election that saw an encouraging voting percentage of 64.75. Karnataka's politics has seen several ups and downs in the past five years. The BJP formed its first government in the south, but broke up when one of its founding members, former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, walked out to form the KJP. The Bellary Reddy brothers, who once called the shots, took a back seat following a Lokayukta report on illegal mining. Their associate B Sriramulu, like Yeddyurappa, floated his own outfit. These elections could be a watershed for Karnataka, which has not had a stable government since 2004. After the 2004 elections, when no party had a majority, the Congress and JD(S) cobbled up a government to keep the BJP at bay. Twenty months later, H D Kumaraswamy broke up the Congress to join hands with the BJP, which he ditched after 20 months. The BJP's honeymoon lasted just a couple of months. Operation Lotus, infighting, Yeddyurappa's resignation and his non-stop pinpricks to his two successors cast a shadow on the party. In the urban local bodies elections this year, the BJP was relegated to the second place along with the JD(S). The Karnataka outcome will be crucial to the two national parties, which will cross swords in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and assembly elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Sikkim.   Source: TOI