Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The results of Karnataka assembly elections have shown a clear victory path to Congress, leaving everyone speculating about the upcoming elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Now, after losing Karnataka, BJP's main focus will be Madhya Pradesh, which goes to poll in November. Here are a few points on things to watch out in MP after Karnataka Results:
1. Few months ago, Congress defeated BJP to win Himachal Pradesh and now it is slated to wrest Karnataka from the saffron party. This has given Congress party the much-needed boost as it gears for the three assembly election this year end.
2. And buoyed by its victory in Karnataka, Congress which has already been active in MP, will step up its reach at ground level to snatch the central India's heart from BJP.
3. But, to maintain its heavyweight political image, BJP must retain MP in upcoming assembly. Moreover, the Karnataka elections is an example that people vote on local issues. The saffron party might have to shift its focus to local problems of people.
4. However, the victory equation often varies from state to state. This could be gauged from the fact that even when it went ahead with the CM face in Himachal Pradesh, it lost to Congress. And it also lost Karnataka, despite changing the CM candidate. In MP, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been the constant CM candidate for BJP, therefore it is to be seen if it goes with Chouhan, especially amid reports hinting several CM aspirants in the BJP.
5. Another probable reason for the defeat of BJP in Karnataka could be the weaker base there. In Madhya Pradesh, BJP has a strong base and had won three back-to-back assembly elections. Even in 2018 polls, BJP had won 109 seats, just six short of the majority-mark.
What is more important is that BJP’s National General Secretary BL Santosh hails from Karnataka and comes from RSS (Sangh) could not direct the saffron party towards victory.
6. The Karnataka elections have also shed light on the mindset of voters. For instance, people do not support leaders who switch to another party for their personal gains. In MP, several Congress MLAs, along with Jyotirdaitya Scindia, joined BJP to topple the Nath-led govt. This has posed two major challenges in front of the saffron party:
a. Will public vote for the leaders that changed parties?
b. To calm down dissident BJP leaders following their complaints of feeling 'sidelined' after Scindia's entry.
7. Moreover, BJP had denied tickets to many big leaders in Karnataka and lost the election. In Gujarat, BJP had given tickets to new faces by denying tickets to many big faces and won the election.
Well...we will get all the answers in a few months when MP votes for the next government.
