BJP’s Defeats in Karnataka and Jharsuguda: What Message the Voters Want to Give?

Bhubaneswar: The Bharatiya Janata Party has lost the crucial Assembly elections in Karnataka and the by-poll held in Jharsuguda, Odisha with a humiliating reflection of people’s mandate.

In Karnataka, the Congress is going to wrest the Government with a thumping majority of more than 135 assembly seats – a clear gain of more than 55 seats and a loss of more than 40 seats for the BJP. Today’s results can be seen as the mood of the nation before the country goes for the polls next year. The people of Karnataka have shown that divisive politics does not work and they have rejected a government that was communal and corrupt. During the campaigning for the Karnataka elections, the campaigning by the saffron party took to maximum hatred and minimum on people’s issues. The BJP’s false narratives have been rejected by the people.

Another aspect of the defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party reflects its choice of the leaders who managed the whole affairs both in Karnataka and Jharsuguda. The results of the current elections can be seen as a clear failure of the Party senior leaders who were engaged in the process. One of the leaders who was closely associated with the Karnataka Elections was Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. While he was the in-charge for the Karnataka elections, can he be attributed for the failure of the party? The Bharatiya Janata Party appointed Dharmendra Pradhan as the election in-charge for the Karnataka elections with the hope that something wonderful will come out but the BJP’s bet on Dharmendra has boomeranged.

In the same way, in Jharsuguda also the Bharatiya Janata Party lost with a huge margin against the Biju Janata Dal. In the political circle, it is being discussed that the failure in Jharsuguda can also be attributed to Dharmendra Pradhan and his team’s diminishing influence. In Jharsuguda, the BJP played a very sad campaign narrative to garner votes.

The Jharsuguda results show that the people want politics of development. They want their government to continue the development that is going on. They see a leadership that is capable of serving the people. The clean image of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the development and transformation oriented governance have helped win the by-polls. Under his leadership, the young generation – especially the women leaders, will hold the development baton of Odisha.