New Delhi| The humiliating defeat in the Karnataka assembly elections has given a blow to the BJP. The BJP has had to be content with only 65 seats as compared to 104 in 2018, while the Congress is seen sweeping 136 seats with a resounding victory. The BJP, engaged in the campaign of expansion in other states of South India, has suffered a major setback with the election results of Karnataka. According to party sources, the BJP may hold a meeting soon to review the humiliating defeat in Karnataka. A senior Karnataka BJP leader told IANS that the party would review the reasons for the defeat at the assembly level, district level and state level and analyze why the party could not connect with the people with its issues.
In fact, initially, the party believes that JD-S’s vote to Congress has resulted in such a resounding victory, but the most worrisome results for the party have come from Mumbai Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka. Both these areas are considered to be Lingayat-dominated areas. BS Yeddyurappa, a prominent leader of Lingayats in the state, was continuously campaigning on behalf of the party. At the same time, the party had made Basavaraj Bommai the Chief Minister of the Lingayat community and had also promised to make him the Chief Minister if he won the election, but despite this, not getting the votes of the Lingayat voters is no less than a big blow for the BJP.
The most worrying thing for the BJP is that this time the Congress has brought back a large number of Lingayat MLAs and if this trend continues, it will be very difficult for the party to revive in the state.
