Karnataka has stuck to its tradition of going against the national trend by setting in motion a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wave, which will raise its representation from the state in the 14th Lok Sabha to 18 from the previous eight out of the total 28 Lok Sabha seats. It is one the most damning defeats for the Congress in the state. They have even lost their cosiest seat -- Bellary.
CK Jaffer Sharief, who has never lost a single election in his political career, has been ousted by high-profile retired Bangalore police commissioner H T Sangliana.
Worse, the Maharaja of Mysore, Srikantadatta Wodeyar, too, has lost. Congress' former chief minister S Bangarappa, who switched his loyalty to BJP, accounted for one more loss to the party.
Amid this mayhem, there is a bright spot for the Congress in Karnataka. Deve Gowda, former prime minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader, has lost in Kanakapura to a novice in politics -- TV journalist Tejaswini Ramesh. Wanting to play safe, Deve Gowda is also contesting from Hassan where he won.
Expectedly, the major gainer has been the BJP, which will have an 18-member contingent to the Lok Sabha from Karnataka. These results fully vindicate the opinion polls, which stated that the people of Karnataka were happy with Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his view on reforms.
However, it is a different story that they will have to be satisfied with reforms without Vajpayee steering the nation.
Explaining this poor show of Congress, BK Chandrashekar, who was education minister in the outgoing SM Krishna Government said: "For four consecutive years, our State has been faced with severe drought and Congress did the most that could be done. A majority of voters, I guess, did not understand the efforts and they have vent their anger by voting against the Congress MPs. It is extremely difficult to rationalise with farmers who have gone deep into debt and highlight the fact that we have tried our best given the extreme circumstances. I guess, this is the major reason for the loss of seats of Congress."
Added another political analyst: "The result is a clear consequence of splintering of the Janata Parivar with gains for BJP. The information technology and urban centric approach of SM Krishna has not gone down well with the rural populace of the State."
Commenting on how the Karnataka MPs should work for the betterment of the state, Chandrashekar said: "With a Congress-led coalition at the Centre and also at the State, I guess the most critical issues facing the State - like drought and power reforms will get boost."
Calling for cooperation among MPs from the state, irrespective of party affiliation, in canvassing for more central assistance for further structural reforms, Chandrashekar said: "It is not though the previous MPs from Karnataka haven't delivered. However, I feel, our MPs should make their presence felt more in the Lok Sabha. We have to do our homework much more earnestly and similar to our neighbouring States MPs, we should gain more for Karnataka."
