With BJP Leading Stalwarts in Karnataka Coalition Stare at Defeat

Many senior leaders, including former PM Deve Gowda, are expected to lose the elections.

CM HD Kumaraswamy (right) with his father, HD Deve Gowda (left). 

(Photo: File/Altered by Harsh Sahani/The Quint)

The BJP in Karnataka is close to sweeping the polls in Karnataka. As on 2 pm, the BJP is leading in 24 out of the 28 seats in the state, recording 57% vote share in the state, crossing halfway mark for the first time in the party’s history.

The Congress-JD(S) coalition, which had won 11 seats in the previous election has been reduced to mere three seats.

To add to their woes, independent candidate Sumalataha is giving Chief Minister Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil a tough competition in Mandya, which was considered a test of the coalition’s unity.

In the big coalition collapse in the state, many stalwarts, including Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, former Chief Minister and union minister Veerappa Moily, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, and seven-time Kolar MP KH Muniyappa and KPCC working president Eshwar Khandre are headed towards defeat.

HD Deve Gowda | JD(S) Supremo

A confident former prime minister had given up his Hassan seat to his grandson Prajwal Revanna and entered the fray in Tumkur constituency. Although, the seat was considered an easy win for Deve Gowda, as on 2 pm, he is trailing by over 10,000 votes.

During the polls, this seat saw a spike of 4.67% votes amounting to considerable increase in additional votes, indicating a wave. Since the BJP candidate in the constituency G Basavaraj has contested from Tumkur in the past five elections, and since the new addition to the constituency is Deve Gowda, the wave was predicted to be in favour of the former prime minister, but the polls have proven it wrong.

Veerappa Moily | Former CM

Former Karnataka chief minister and union minister Veerappa Moily was one of the strong candidates the party, contesting from Karnataka’s Chikkabalapur. Contesting against BJP’s BN Bache Gowda, whom he had defeated in 2014, the party was hoping for assured victory from Moily.

However, as on Thursday afternoon, Moily is trailing by 1,26,933 votes and his chances of comeback seems very unlikely. The anti-incumbency against Moily and the support for PM Modi is said to have helped Bache Gowda in defeating this Congress strongman.

Mallikarjun Kharge | Senior Congress Leader

He was the face of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha and he hadn’t not lost an election since the beginning of his political career in 1972, but Mallikarjun Kharge is trailing behind BJP candidate Umesh G Jadhav by over one lakh votes in Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency.

Umesh Jadhav, was a former Congress MLA, who after being a denied a ministerial berth in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government quit the party and joined the BJP. Although the Congress leaders campaigned hard against the defector, trends show the Jadhav will win the seat comfortably.

Eshwar Khandre | Congress Working President

The working president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee is facing possible defeat in Bidar constituency. As on Thursday afternoon Khandre is trailing by 1,15,176 votes against BJP Bhagwant Khuba. In the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress had faced backlash over its decision to declare Lingayats a separate religion.

Khandre, who is a Lingayat was promoted as the working president of the party to capture Lingayat vote bank, however, his poor performance indicates the party’s strategy hasn’t work. Moreover, a working president of the party losing the polls comes an embarrassment for the party.