After the Rajya Sabha elections that have just got over, the citizens are looking forward to the next elections– the by-elections in Karnataka and Kerala.
The Karnataka election dates will be announced today by India’s top poll body at 11 am. Karnataka, one of the few states where the Congress is in power and the only southern state where the BJP was able to form a government, is among the key states that could decide the course of politics in a year of elections.
The tenure of the 224-member Karnataka assembly ends on May 28 and a new house has to be in place by then.
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The results in Karnataka, which is considered the gateway to south India for any political party, will be vital ahead of the national election due in 2019.
The campaign has been bitter and shrill, with allegations of communal politics and political murders and tit-for-tat charges of large-scale corruption.
For the Congress, retaining Karnataka is an imperative at a time it has lost its grip on much of India. The party is in power in just four states – Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya, and Mizoram – compared to the BJP’s 21.
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Since BJP came to power in 2014, it has taken states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Assam, and Manipur from the Congress. The BJP also bagged India’s most politically important and largest state Uttar Pradesh last year and last month, it also ended the 25-year Left rule in Tripura.
The ruling Congress in the state faces a tough challenge from the BJP, which launched its election campaign in November. The BJP spent 85 days campaigning across the state and organized a rally in Bengaluru addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP has decided to pitch BS Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate.
In 2014, the BJP won 17 of its 20 seats in southern states just in Karnataka, getting massive support from the urban centers like Bengaluru and Mysuru.
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