BJP Set to Bag Karnataka, Early General Elections on the Cards

Leads show that BJP has bagged Karnataka even as saffron brigade may call for early general elections.

Upsetting many exit polls, the BJP is on its way to bag Karnataka Assembly and this will be state number 20 in its kitty. As leads started pouring in, the BJP has crossed the half way mark of 122 seats. According to trends, the BJP is ahead in 118 seats with the Congress way behind at 58. The JD(S) is at 44.

With this, the BJP will be able to form a government on its own. The confidence shown by BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa was not misplaced when he boasted yesterday that he will be heading to Delhi to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the swearing in ceremony.

With a resounding win in Karmataka, the BJP may call for general elections early along with the Assembly elections to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh for two reasons:  The BJP cannot afford to lose any one of these states as it will have a bearing on the general elections; secondly, with not much gap between the assembly elections and the general elections, the BJP’s mascot Narendra Modi will find the pressure of handling state elections and general elections too much to bear.

The future of Congress president Rahul Gandhi is now at stake. There will be a serious and bigger question mark on his leadership. The non-BJP coalition parties will also see Rahul as a liability as the nation heads to general elections in 2019.

To make matters worse for the Congress, chief minister Siddaramaiah is set to lose Chamundeswari to his JD(S) rival who has taken an unassailable lead.

The big dream of HD Kumaraswamy to become the king and, if not, a kingmaker, has turned into a nightmare. The voters of the state have told him that he is neither the king or the kingmaker, just a commoner. With this result, the JD(S) will be staring at being inconsequential in the coming elections.

Though a state election, the results will have an over-bearing on the national scenario with the Modi’s plan for 2019 general elections becoming easy. For BJP, the Karnataka win is a big approval of Modi’s plans and policies. It will also be a comeback for B S Yeddyurappa, BJP’s mascot in the state and a former CM whose term was clouded by graft charges.

All said, the Modi bandwagon seems to be on a role.