How BJP broke Congress' Dalit stronghold and secured a big win in Karnataka

Siddaramaiah's undoing began 18 months ago, when Yeddyurappa took office as the leader of BJP and proceeded to break the AHINDA caste coalition that brought the Congress to power in 2013

The three basic questions any reporter is taught to ask is: when; where and how. In the context of the Karnataka Assembly election 2018, another one needs to be added: ‘for how long’.

The dismantling of the Siddaramaiah regime began nearly 18 months ago, when B S Yeddyurappa took office as the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – much to the chagrin of rival party leaders like K Eshwarappa and Jagadish Shettar, even one-time protege and loyalist Sadananda Gowda – and proceeded to break the AHINDA (an acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) caste coalition that brought