Cong, JD(S) HQs deserted as BJP sweeps polls

A near clean sweep by the BJP Opposition in the state seems to have dampened the spirits of the ruling coalition — the Congress and the JD(S) in Karnataka. Even as the BJP headquarters at Malleshwaram was bustling with workers chanting slogans and distributing sweets, the party headquarters of the Congress on Queens’ Road and the JD(S) in Sheshadripuram wore a deserted look.

The Congress office saw no activities since the morning. As the news began to trickle in about the BJP bulldozing calculations and upsetting the strong network of coalition forces, a pal of gloom descended on the party offices in Bengaluru. Neither the leaders nor party workers were at the party office. Only a few staffers had assembled and replied to queries from the media. In fact, the staffers themselves said that several party leaders were not accessible and they did not know whether the leaders would hold a press interaction.

The scenario at the JD(S) office in Sheshadripuram was no different. There was no trace of a party worker or leader visiting the office. While CM Kumaraswamy was busy hopping from temple to temple, his wife Anitha Kumaraswamy and son Nikhil Kumaraswamy were praying at the Sharadadevi temple in Sringeri. There were rumours that Kumaraswamy would hold a meeting of party leaders in the afternoon.

In the meantime, grand preparations are underway at the BJP party office in Malleshwaram. Several hundred kgs of sweets including laddus and pedhas were brought for distribution to the general public and party workers. Party volunteers who were catching up with the party’s all India performance on a giant screen outside the party office were seen chanting slogans and waving saffron flags.

Former Deputy CM R Ashoka said, “This stupendous performance by the BJP-led NDA is because of the able administration by PM Narendra Modi and the government’s decisions like the surgical strike and corruption-free governance. Regardless of what the Opposition says, this is nothing but a Modi wave. We don’t have to do Operation Lotus in Karnataka. CM will resign on his own looking at the statewide trend. The results have yet again reiterated that people in Karnataka want BJP in power.”