After UP, can BJP return to power in K'taka? War of words breaks out in assembly

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has said he is confident of BJP's return to power in the state after the ruling party's ‘landslide win’ in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa at the 2022 assembly polls on Thursday.

Bommai, who replaced BS Yediyurappa as the state's CM last year, said the objectives announced in his maiden budget last week, clubbed with Narendra Modi's programmes for the poor, women and farmers has generated massive goodwill among the people of Karnataka. 

The southern state, where no ruling party has returned to power since the 1980s, will be taken to vote next year, with Bommai-led government targeting over 130 seats in the state.

Attacking BJP's sustenance in the state after uncertainty following Yediyurappa's stepped down as CM, Congress leader Siddaramaiah said the people of Karnataka have already decided on a BJP exit in 2023.

“I voluntarily resigned as CM and to remind what I said when I was CM, Congress will stay in opposition for many years to come,” said Yediyurappa.

Congress has launched several campaigns against rising unemployment, inflation, COVID mismanagement, farm distress and corruption in the state, with their most recent one being the success of the mekedatu padayatra.

However, Thursday's election numbers suggested that voters seem to have shrugged off these issues. Moreover, Karnataka has adopted pro-hindutva moves like the anti-cow slaughter and anti-conversion laws from UP, where BJP bagged 255 seats out of 403.

"Congress has sunk in the rest of the country. It will sink in Karnataka too. Congress is fighting for survival," Bommai said on Thursday, with results, especially in Punjab and Goa, being yet another wake-up call for the party as it seeks to remain a national alternative to BJP.

CM Bommai remained positive that anti-incumbency is a factor that will not affect BJP after it secured its second term in four states.

Meanwhile, citing Congress' failure in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur - B. S. Yediyurappa said BJP coming back to power in 2023 in Karnataka will be a step towards achieving a “Congress Mukt Bharat”.

“Congress has lost its base in most parts of the country and will vanish soon,” he said.

“BJP is in a bubble," Siddaramaiah said, adding that Congress has shown resistance in the by-elections, local body polls and panchayat elections after the BJP government was formed.

While some political analysts say UP polls may have a ‘far-reaching’ impact on politics in Karnataka, a political scientist opined that while it is a morale booster for the party, it does not mean a cakewalk, a news website reported.