KARNATAKA DRAMA SEEN AS SETBACK FOR MODI AHEAD OF 2019 ELECTIONS
INDIAN opposition parties joined forces to snatch power from the country’s ruling party in the southern state of Karnataka, laying the stage for other such alliances in a direct challenge to prime minister Narendra Modi’s re-election bid next year.
A coalition of Congress and a regional group said last Sunday (20) they will establish a government in Karnataka this week, after Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to prove its majority despite bagging more seats than any other party in a closely-fought election.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress party – which has struggled to make any major political inroads since Modi stormed to power four years ago – said his party will rally regional groups into a common front against Modi.
“I am very proud that the opposition has stood together and defeated the BJP, and we will continue to do so,” said Gandhi.
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal state in eastern India, described Modi’s failure in Karnataka as a “victory of the regional front”.
Karnataka, with a population of 66 million, was the first major state this year to elect an assembly. It will be followed by three more before the general election in 2019.
The BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa stepped down after just two days as chief minister and minutes before he was to have faced a vote of confidence in the Karnataka state assembly last Saturday (19).
The BJP deposed Congress as the biggest party after the Karnataka election on May 12. But its 104 seats were not enough for a majority in the 224-member assembly. The Congress saw its numbers slashed from 122 to 78 seats, but it formed a coalition with the regional Janata Dal (Secular) which finished with 37 seats.
“The mandate was not for Congress and Janata Dal. They lost the election but they indulged in opportunist politics,” Yeddyurappa told the assembly.
Political strategists say polls in Karnataka, home to India’s “Silicon Valley” in Bangalore, were seen as a key test of Modi’s popularity but the final outcome highlights the threats he faces from a united opposition are much bigger than anticipated.
“Formation of this coalition is a platform for an anti-BJP alliance for the next year,” said Sandeep Shastri, a political scientist at Bengaluru’s Jain University. “Any shortfall in other states will further consolidate anti-BJP forces.”
In an apparent show of strength against Modi, most opposition leaders have been invited for the upcoming swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka’s new chief minister, said Sanjay Jha, Congress’ national spokesman.
Jha said Congress’ spirit ahead of the 2019 polls was that of “necessary political accommodation” when it comes to forming alliances to stop Modi.
However, BJP leader Seshadri Chari said no opposition alliance will be able to stop Modi. “BJP will emerge as the single largest party (in 2019) with a majority,” he said.
Modi remains by far the most popular politician in India and his approval rankings far outweigh Gandhi, who is the fifth-generation scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. (Agencies)
