A Congress leader on Tuesday lamented that the party failed to plan for the Karnataka Assembly election and educate the people about the government’s welfare schemes.

“The party and its leaders, both in Bengaluru and Delhi, should have woken up much earlier and planned much better for the election to educate the people of the state about the Congress government’s welfare schemes,” Congress state unit Vice President B.K. Chandrashekar told IANS here.

“The good economic policies of the government weren’t communicated effectively to the people of Karnataka.”

Chandrashekar said the party’s set-up was a reason for its defeat in the state election that took place on Saturday. The votes were counted on Tuesday.

“We should have strategized at least two-three years ahead of the elections by setting up a think tank in order to counter (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi’s charm,” Chandrashekar said.

“The Congress failed in communicating to the people of the state that the politics of communalism and nationalism of the BJP must be rejected.” The Congress now needs a structural reconstruction, he added.

Reacting philosophically to the Congress defeat in Karnataka, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday invoked Shakespeare to describe the electoral debacle.

The National Conference leader wrote on his widely followed Twitter page: “Et tu Karnataka.”

Similar words were uttered by Julius Caesar in Shakespeare’s sublime tragedy when Caesar’s best friend Brutus stabbed him. The BJP was set to oust the Congress in the Karnataka Assembly vote count.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was on Tuesday trailing in both the constituencies where he contested, officials said.

The Congress leader was way behind G.T Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal-Secular in Chamundeshwari by over 13,000 votes, Election Commission officials said.

And after leading initially, Siddaramaiah fell behind B.R. Sriramulu of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Badami constituency by 428 seats.

N Mahesh,state president of the Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) opened the party’s account in the state by emerging victorious from the Kollegal reserve constituency in Chamarajnagar district today.He had unsuccessfully contested from the same constituency during the previous 2013 Assembly elections.

It may be recalled here that the BSP had entered into an pre poll alliance with the Janata Dal Secular and as a result of such an understanding BSP was allotted 20 seats to contest. Kollegal was one such constituency where N Mallesh came second during the previous general elections.

N Mahesh defeated AR Krishnamurthy of the Congress to register the maiden victory for his party in the backward district bordering Tamil Nadu.He polled 31,362 votes garnering a vote share of 40.62 percent while his nearest rival AR Krishnamurthy bagged 24,764 votes and 32.07 share of votes polled. BN Nanjundaswamy of the BJP came third by getting 18,631 votes and 24.13 percent of votes polled.

During 2013 polls N Mahesh had got 37,209 votes and 25.40 vote share while S Jayanna,the winning Congress candidate had bagged 47,402 votes and 32.36 vote share.In fact last time the KJP of BS Yeddyurappa had played spoil sport as its candidate Balaraj S garnered 32,578 votes while GN Nanjundaswamy of the BJP had to be content with 17,089 votes.

Hindusthan Samachar/Manohar Yadavatti

The BJP’s victory march in Karnataka with leads in 114 Assembly constituencies is because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s extensive election campaign, party MP from the state Shobha Karandlaje said on Tuesday.

“The mandate is clearly against the divisive politics of the Congress and arrogance of Siddaramaiah. The victory belongs to the extensive campaign by Narendra Modi, party President Amit Shah and our Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa,” Karandlaje said here.

The BJP was on Tuesday set to return to power in its southern bastion Karnataka as its candidates crossed the half-way mark in vote count, stunning and ousting the ruling Congress and leaving the JD-S at the third spot.

Noisy celebrations broke out in party offices in Bengaluru, New Delhi and across Karnataka as Bharatiya Janata Party nominees were on the victory lap in 118 of the 222 constituencies which voted on Saturday.

This was a dramatic jump from the 40 seats the BJP won five years ago.

The Congress, desperate to retain power in the state amid shrinking appeal nationally, suffered major blows and was ahead only in 62 seats, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah trailing in both the constituencies he contested: Badami and Chamundeshwari.

The Congress leader was way behind G.T Deve Gowda of the Janata Dal-Secular in Chamundeshwari, Election Commission officials said. And after leading initially, Siddaramaiah fell behind B.R. Sriramulu of the BJP in Badami.

In contrast, the BJP’s Chief Ministerial face B.S. Yeddyurappa was ahead of his Congress rival by more than 11,000 votes in Shikaripura.

Energy Minister and Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar said that the numbers indicated that his party was on the way out after five years in power.

Any party or grouping will need 113 of the total 224 seats to secure a majority in the Assembly. Polling did not take place in two constituencies on Saturday.

The BJP was overjoyed. “We are in a jubilant mood because we have crossed the half-way mark. We are confident of winning,” spokesman S. Shantharam told IANS.

BJP activists and leaders celebrated noisily in both Bengaluru and New Delhi, waving party flags and shouting slogans hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, their main vote-getter, and party President Amit Shah.

There were also celebrations outside the residence of Yeddyurappa, who has been Chief Minister earlier too.

The Janata Dal-Secular of former Prime Minister H.D. Dewe Gowda, which has been expected to play the role of a kingmaker in the event of a hung Assembly, was leading in 40 seats — the same number it won five years ago.

As the vote count progressed, BJP leaders became assertive, saying they were confident of taking power again in Karnataka while Congress leaders began to speak about the possibility of an alliance with the JD-S.

BJP leader and Union Minister Sadanand Gowda said that there was no question of any alliance.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar, who is in charge of Karnataka, met BJP President Amit Shah in New Delhi.

Analysts said the BJP was leading in Lingayat dominated seats and the JD-S in Vokkaliga dominated areas.

Expectations of a BJP victory in Karnataka lifted the key Indian equity indices during the mid-morning trade session on Tuesday.

According to market observers, broadly subdued Asian indices and disappointing macro-economic inflation data points released on Monday capped some gains.

Sector-wise, healthy buying was witnessed in banking, capital goods, metals, consumer durables and automobile stocks.

The Sensex has so far touched a high of 35,993.53 points and a low of 35,498.83 points during the intra-day trade.

Ulla constituency Congress leader U T Khader seemed confident of his win and also of Congress winning all the eight constituencies in Dakshina Kannada.

Addressing the press, at Eden Club on Monday, May 14 he said, “I am sure that Congress will win all the 8 constituencies in Dakshina Kannada. I am confident of my victory. Congress will form the government in state and there is no confusion over the chief minister’s post. The Congress high command will take the decision.”

He lauded the EC’s hard work for making sure the elections go smoothly. “I appreciate the Election Commission’s work on the day of election. I am thankful to all officers, staff and police for their service.”

“Meanwhile, I thank all the voters and people of the district. They showed their maturity and maintain the spirit of democracy on the day of election,” he said.

Referring to the malfunctioning EVMs in the district he said, “The Election Commission should be careful in the elections in future. Many voters did not receive voters’ slip this time. The Booth Level Officers (BLO) failed to distribute it to voters on time. Many BLOs issued the slips to local political leaders. It is said that they had distributed the voters slip only to their respective party members and followers.

Meanwhile it is also said that door numbers were not mentioned in the voters’ slip. Hence, the BLOs faced difficulties to distribute it to voters.”

“It is said that many officers allowed people to vote without any ID proofs. They allowed voters’ to vote on the basis of voters’ slip. This will lead to duplicate voting. So, the next time, Election Commission should rectify these issues. I will write a letter to them regarding this,” he added.

“In my last tenure, I handed two departments. I sincerely worked for the people of the state. Both the departments secured national awards and I am satisfied with my work as a minister of Health and Food and Civil Supplies,” he said.

Congress leaders Imithiyaz, Prashanth and others were also present at the meet.

PTI

All major parties trash exit polls, claim voter support; not averse to a Dalit CM, says Siddaramaiah
The 72.36% turnout in Saturday’s Karnataka Assembly elections is a new record for the State, surpassing the 71.90% polling 40 years ago in 1978. The 2013 Assembly polls recorded a turnout of 71.45%.

However, the low voter turnout in the 28 Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru city has caused concern in the Election Commission. The turnout in different constituencies remained in the range of 48% to 60%.

The high voter turnout has triggered a political debate even as both the ruling Congress and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that it was an indication of the voters’ mood in their favour.

While the Congress is interpreting the high turnout as a demonstration of support for its administration, the BJP reads the numbers as an urge for a change.

Karnataka’s 72% turnout is a record

Though several exit polls have predicted a hung Assembly, the three major political parties — the Congress, BJP and Janata Dal (S) —have rubbished them. While the Congress and the BJP vociferously claim that they would form the government on their own, the JD(S) has maintained that it would get many more seats than forecast by the exit polls.

The Chief Minister even tweeted asking party supporters not to worry about exit polls. “So, Dear party workers, supporters & well-wishers, don’t worry about exit polls. Relax & enjoy your weekend. Exit opinion polls are entertainment for the next 2 days,” he said.

Speaking to reporters in Chamundeshwari constituency, one of the two seats from where he contested, Mr Siddaramaiah said, “This will be my last election.”

Follow The Hindu’s comprehensive coverage of the election here.

A Dalit CM?

To a question on the possibility of a Dalit Chief Minister, he said, “It is fine if the party decides to have a Dalit Chief Minister.” However, he made a strong pitch for retaining the top post, emphasizing the absence of dissidence in the party during his five-year tenure at the helm.

“There is no dissatisfaction among the Party MLAs,” he said, recalling that dissidence had affected the regimes of his predecessors like D. Devaraj Urs, Veerendra Patil, S. Bangarappa, and M. Veerappa Moily.

Mr. Siddaramaiah also ruled out the possibility of shifting to national politics. Responding to a question on a possible move if the party high command wanted him to play a larger role ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha polls, he said, “I will not go to national politics. I will restrict myself to Karnataka politics.”

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G. Parameshwara meanwhile, observed that there were a dozen of aspirants for the top post, including himself, and ultimately the Congress Legislature Party would elect its leader and the party high command would take a final decision.

BSY heads to Delhi

BJP State president and chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa maintained that the party was bound to form the government on its own and that he would visit New Delhi on Monday, ahead of counting on May 15, to consult central leaders on the process of government formation.

JD(S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy left for Singapore, along with his son Nikhil, on Sunday morning.
He is expected to return to Bengaluru on Tuesday morning.

More than 70 people, including 42 in Uttar Pradesh, were killed in six states as unusually powerful dust storms, torrential rain and lightning battered large parts of the country since Sunday, officials said on Monday amid a warning of storms and squalls in the north and northwest regions in the next 48 hours.

The India Meteorological Department said in its latest forecast the western disturbance that is bringing moisture from Eurasian water bodies and north and northwest India, including the hilly states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal and Uttarakhand, and in the plains of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, will continue to affect the weather in this region on Tuesday.

Some parts of the hilly northern states can expect hail and isolated areas of Rajasthan could witness dust storms on Monday and Tuesday.

Residents of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh can expect relief from strong, widespread thunderstorms by Wednesday but weaker thunderstorms, scattered rain and gusty winds may occur in some areas for the rest of the week.

In the south, Telangana, Rayalaseema, interior areas of south Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and Puducherry are likely to see thunderstorm activity on Monday. On Tuesday the thunderstorm activity will be restricted to Odisha and south interior Karnataka.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Twitter that he had asked authorities to provide “all possible assistance” to the needy.

Trail of destruction

Storms are common at this time of the year, the beginning of the rainy season in South Asia, but the severity of the weather this year, and the human cost, have been unusual.

A spokesperson of the Union home ministry said 42 were killed in Uttar Pradesh, 14 in West Bengal, 12 in Andhra Pradesh, two in Delhi and one in Uttarakhand. The spokesperson added 83 people were injured in Uttar Pradesh, 11 in Delhi and two in Uttarakhand.

Twenty-four districts in Uttar Pradesh, six in West Bengal, three in Andhra Pradesh, two in Delhi and one in Uttarakhand were hit by the lightning and thunderstorms, the spokesperson added.

Prabhat Mohapatra, deputy special relief commissioner, told Reuters four people were killed in Odisha.

Dust storms and thunderstorms accompanied with high-velocity winds wreaked havoc on Sunday evening as they uprooted trees, knocked down power poles, grounded flights and disrupted trains across New Delhi and parts of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh.

Thunderstorms also occurred at isolated places in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam, Meghalaya, Maharashtara, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the met department said on Sunday.

The devastation comes over 12 days after storms hit Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand and Punjab, killing 134 people and injuring over 400. Uttar Pradesh was the worst affected accounting for 80 deaths, most of them in Agra district in the western part of the state.

On May 9, several parts of Uttar Pradesh were struck by a severe storm that left 18 dead and 27 others injured.