The grand win of the grand old party in Kalyana Karnataka

Reddy’s victory has left BJP in the dust in the undivided Bellary district, as the party has managed to win only one seat as against the five seats represented by it

A Congress wave has swept the Kalyana Karnataka region, the home turf of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge. The Congress has improved its seat share to 26 from 20 seats in the 2018 Assembly elections. The party has won 63 per cent of the 41 seats in the seven districts.

On the other hand, after winning 17 seats in the previous polls, the BJP's strength has reduced to 10 seats — indicating a reduction of 41 per cent. JD(S) has managed to win only three seats. The party had won four seats in the last Assembly election.

Even high-spirited campaigning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, targeting the Congress manifesto’s plan to ban the Bajrang Dal, does not seem to have yielded any result.

Read | As lotus withers in South India, Congress finds a silver lining

In Gangavathi, Janardhan Reddy won against BJP MLA Paranna Munavalli. Here, the BJP had chosen to play the Hindutva card. The presence of the Anjanadri Hills, said to be the birthplace of Lord Hanuman, was highlighted in the speeches by campaigners. However, this strategy seems to have backfired on the party.

The Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP), floated by Reddy, won in Gangavathi. In Ballari City and Sandur, the party cut into BJP’s vote share.

In fact, the ruling party has managed to retain only one seat out of the five it had previously won in the undivided Ballari district, in 2018.

The BJP had even tried hard to capitalise on a quota hike for SC/ST communities. Around 40 per cent (16 seats) of the Assembly seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates in Kalyana Karnataka.

However, even this measure appears to have missed the mark as most of the party's candidates in these reserved constituencies have suffered defeat. BJP leader B Sriramulu, who is considered an icon of the Valmiki community, has lost to Congress MLA B Nagendra in the reserved constituency of Ballari rural. In fact, Congress won all five seats in the Ballari district.

Article 371J

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s effort to highlight the party's role in according the Article 371J to the region appears to have agreed well with voters.

The induction of BJP leaders Vishwanath Patil Hebbal and Arvind Chauhan into the Congress also helped Priyank Kharge retain the Chittapur Assembly constituency.

Read | Key takeaways from Karnataka election result 2023

The party had also roped in Koli Kabbaliga leader Baburao Chinchansur, in an attempt to woo the community with the largest vote bank in the constituency. However, Chinchansur was defeated in the Gurmitkal constituency by Sharana Gowda Kandakur, a JD(S) candidate.

Infighting in the BJP also cost it the Afzalpur Assembly constituency. Nitin Guttedar had contested as a rebel candidate against his brother and former minister Malikayya Guttedar after being denied a ticket. This appears to have led to the victory of Congress MLA M Y Patil by a slender margin.

All five of the MLAs in Vijayanagar district suffered defeat, perhaps due to a wave of anti-incumbency.

Lata Mallikarjuna, late M P Prakash's daughter, won from Harapanahalli constituency by contesting as Congress rebel candidate after denial of the ticket by the party. KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre (Bhalki), and vice-president Sharan Prakash Patil (Sedam) are senior Congress leaders who won from the region.

"BJP has suffered defeat in Kalyana Karnataka region as the government has not given proper representation to many districts in the Cabinet though Dr Nanjundappa Committee report has recommended 25 per cent of the ministerial berths to the region. Moreover, BJP is lacking leadership like the stature of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge in the region. Moreover, BJP MLAs were facing an anti-incumbency" factor in the region", Raichur political observer Raghavendra Kustagi said.