NEW DELHI (AP) – People in the southern Indian state of Karnataka voted yesterday in an election where pre-poll surveys showed the opposition Congress party favoured over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Hindu nationalist party.
The votes for 224 state legislature seats will be counted tomorrow and the outcome is likely to be an indicator of voter sentiment ahead of national elections expected by May next year. Bengaluru, the state capital, is India’s information technology hub and the area is a sought-after workplace for young professionals.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is battling to retain the only southern state where it has ever won power. BJP strongholds are in northern, central and western India, while opposition parties rule the other southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The BJP is battling to limit its losses due to anti-incumbency, inflation, allegations of corruption and poor infrastructure development in the state. A political analyst A Narayana, said there is voters’ anger against the ruling BJP government in the state.
“If this anger somehow translates into voting, the BJP has reasons to worry and the Congress has reasons to rejoice,” he said.
Another expert Sandeep Shastri, said the situation seems to be like that. “The Congress has its nose ahead.”
A BJP win would put top Congress figure Rahul Gandhi’s popularity in question. If Congress prevails, the credit will go to Gandhi’s crucial campaigning for his party in Karnataka. In the 2018 assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 104 seats, followed by the Congress with 78 seats and the Janata Dal (Secular) with 37.
