The Congress won the Karnataka elections by overcoming the wild campaign led directly by the Prime Minister and the atmosphere of hatred created by the entire Hindutva Parivar. The Congress got a de facto upper hand in all areas of the state except coastal Kannada. The Congress did not reach this victory in vain. The political progress made by the Congress cannot be overshadowed by the generalization of anti-incumbency, which is a natural tendency in Karnataka. Five elements, not so well known in recent Congress politics and party tradition, became the bedrock of this victory.
Strong leadership
Every election season, Congress’s campaign activities will be initiated by the crowd, swayed by organizational weaknesses and leadership disputes. With the absence of central government, there was no state-national distinction in it. This trend has been curbed in Karnataka. Before the elections, the Congress planned from reorganization to the program of action months in advance. All issues including the post of chief minister have already been resolved.
The ‘adults’ who might raise their heads during the elections were dealt with in advance. Siddaramaiah fully supported these moves initiated by DK Shivakumar. Siddaramaiah who recognized the potential of Shivakumar and in turn Shivakumar who was convinced of Siddaramaiah’s popularity, led the battle with mutual understanding. The party stood by them. Congress was able to formulate and implement election strategies systematically. A multi-pronged plan was implemented to counter the threat posed by the JDS through triangular competition. Even in the selection of the candidate, there was no confusion. The fact that the Congress and the workers did not have any confusion on their way forward became a very important factor in this victory, as they were able to experience a leadership that the workers could trust, depend on and hope for. The Karnataka Congress is a lesson to be learned by the high command teams handling the national politics of the Congress.
Solid politics
The political policy followed by the Congress for decades is to counter the extreme communalism of the BJP with soft Hinduism. As a consequence of this approach, the presence of Congress in national politics and power sharing in the states started to become irrelevant. The Congress has not yet rejected the critics’ argument that it needs to stand firm and talk politics to regain its old glory. But Karnataka is an exception to that too.
On the one hand, the BJP’s strategy in Karnataka is to appeal to Hindutva communalism and casteism among the rural voters and to promote development in the urban areas. But the Congress is not mature enough to retaliate in the same tone or make the same strategy. Rather, the Congress discussed the basic needs of common people and their survival crises. The Congress raised issues ranging from inflation to unemployment. In Belgaum, Hubballi and other city-centred constituencies, the BJP government had brought road development, street lights and footpaths ahead of the elections. Yet in the last local elections, such constituencies lost to the BJP.
Realizing this political warning, the Congress turned its attention to popular issues. It took a long time for the BJP to realize that these slogans were appealing to the masses. Finally BJP was forced to announce free cooking gas cylinders and food subsidy scheme. The foundation of this victory is the firm decision to counter with political integrity the BJP’s strategy of keeping aside popular issues and playing communalism. Rahul’s response that the election result is a verdict against crony capitalism is a reflection of that.
A firm stance
The Congress’s stance did not stop at the point where it did not say soft communalism in response to BJP’s communal propaganda. The Congress also dared to open new avenues of resistance on the other side through its firm secular stance. Mallikarjun Kharge’s statement that the Prime Minister is a poisonous snake is a sign of the transformation the Congress has undergone. The Congress decided to strongly oppose the BJP’s polarizing strategy of scrapping Muslim reservation and dividing it between two Hindu backward classes. In order to protect the vote bank, BJP has taken a bold step to break the caste equations that have been maintained for ages.
Kittur’s audacity to intrude into BJP’s powerhouse communities and devise political schemes to garner votes has tipped the polls in Karnataka and Old Mysuru in favor of the Congress. Realizing that the backward-minority-Dalit community is a critical factor in Indian politics, the Congress has been willing to formulate political strategies accordingly. The Congress was wary of converting the social equation described as Ahinda into votes.
This boldness was manifested not only in caste equations but also in anti-corruption stances. The BJP’s campaign hype could not overcome the impact created by phrases like ‘Pay CM’ and ’40 percent commission government’. The Kannada component has managed to establish that the BJP is a party mired in corruption and the Congress is fighting against it. The Congress has still not succeeded at the national level in overcoming the image of a corrupt party that the BJP built to overthrow the Congress in Indian politics.
Yet the Congress managed to regain power in Karnataka with its anti-corruption slogan. It is not insignificant that the people are ready to ignore the declaration of no-truth war by the Congress against corruption. The victory of the Congress in Karnataka is a hope that has given a firm declaration against corruption to the common man whose daily life has been disrupted by the ravages of corruption.
Solid support
In Karnataka, as elsewhere, under the BJP rule, the Muslim minority has been the main group that has been attacked socially and culturally. Congress has given strong support to the Muslim community, which has made the Muslim community insecure with a series of events ranging from the removal of reservation for Muslims in the state to the ban on the hijab. Hijab ban has created a huge impact on Muslim youth. In this way, the Congress faced the politics of hatred unleashed by the BJP in a powerful way.
The announcement of the withdrawal of all sedition laws introduced by the BJP caused a stir among the Muslim minority. The Congress had no qualms about fielding a Muslim woman wearing a hijab. The manifesto promised to restore Muslim reservation. Bajrang Dal, which is at the forefront of Muslim aggression in Karnataka, has been announced to be banned. The Congress did not flinch in the face of threats by soft Hindutva pundits that the Bajrang Dal ban announcement would backfire among Hindu voters.
It was the JD(S) that was more valiant and vocal than the Congress in defending the Hindutva agenda of the BJP. So one of the formulas for the BJP’s victory numbers was the expectation that the Muslim vote would be split between the Congress and the JDS. The Muslim community also succeeded in dealing with this danger with political maturity. The 13 percent Kannada Muslims who stood by the Congress when its very existence was called into question returned their firm support.
Solid strategy
Along with the overt political steps taken by the Congress, the programs launched under the banner of ‘Wake Up Karnataka (Eddalu Karnataka)’ with only anti-BJP politics at the fore were important. The scheme, which carried the slogan ‘Bye Bye BJP’, contributed greatly to turning the social fabric of Karnataka into an anti-BJP one. These moves were outside the planning of the Congress.
The ‘Wake Up Karnataka’ movement, initiated by social activists with anti-Hindu politics, with the support of many organizations belonging to Muslim, Dalit and backward groups, decided the course of this election. About five thousand volunteers from 103 constituencies participated in this. Wake up Karnataka has taken the initiative to mobilize and consolidate the anti-BJP vote along with the traditional programs of taking their respective sections to the fore on various issues, campaigning with posters etc. The main activities were concentrated in the areas where the BJP gathered votes in the last elections.
Around 200,000 new voters were found. He met with all the main anti-BJP parties that came into the fray. As a result of their efforts, 49 candidates, who might have split the vote, withdrew from the contest. Propaganda videos etc. were widely distributed through social media. 112 organizations working in various fields participated in this activity. Interacted with two lakh people in 75 conferences organized in various fields. The social change brought about by the ‘Bye Bye BJP’ campaign through such multi-faceted action programs played a vital role in laying the groundwork for Congress’s success at the grassroots level.
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In present-day India where Hindutva politics reigns supreme, the Karnataka Congress has seen a successful combination of nuanced and broad approaches that an anti-BJP party fighting for democracy must adopt. Precise politics, clear position and decisive leadership. If the Congress, which is leading the opposition in the country to the parliamentary elections, can choose the same path, then it can ensure a political victory over Hinduism if it can copy the lessons imparted by Karnataka.
Summary: 5 important takeaways for Congress from 2023 Karnataka Assembly Polls result
2023-05-13 17:00:25
#lessons #Congress #Karnataka
