He will be formally elected leader of the BJP legislature party on Monday.
BJP sources claimed that the party would get the support of four Independents. The unambiguous vote for change and an end to a series of fractured mandates dealt a severe blow to the Congress, which had hoped for a comeback in the southern state ahead of the general elections in 2009.
The Congress won 80 seats, retaining much of its voteshare at 34.6 per cent, but was unable to translate support into seats, garnering an increase of 15 seats from its previous haul of 65 in 2004.
The biggest loser was the Janata Dal (S) and the father and son duo of Mr H.D. Deve Gowda and Mr H.D. Kumaraswamy, who were restricted to their traditional rural vote base, winning 26 of a total of 28 from the southern districts, down from their 2004 tally of 58.
The Janata Dal(Secular) clearly took a beating at the hands of the BJP, which cashed in on the twin election planks that played out — the “betrayal” by the JD(S) as well as the plea to be given a chance to run a singleparty government.
Mr Kumarasawmy told this newspaper that the main reason for the JD(S) defeat was because senior leaders had left his side. “It was a one-man show,” Mr Kumaraswamy said, meaning he had campaigned singlehandedly.
But poll analysts like Harish Bijoor ascribed the BJP’s victory to Karnataka’s fractious caste and cash-rich politics.
“It was a consolidation of the Lingayat vote in the BJP’s favour and a fracturing of the Vokkaliga vote between the Congress and the JD(S).” The AICC office-bearer in charge of Karnataka, Mr Prithviraj Chavan, said the weak Congress organisational structure as opposed to the BJP’s, which was fully geared for an election, was responsible, pointing to the party’s voteshare, which remained higher than that of the BJP’s 33.9 per cent.
Former chief minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, on whom the Congress’ hopes of a resurrection had rested and whose own political future is yet to be decided, said it was “the saddest day of my life.” Party insiders ascribed the drubbing to the inability of the party to inspire confidence in the Congress’ time-honoured vote base of minorities, Muslims, dalits and SCSTs. Out of the 51 SC-ST seats, the BJP won 29, Congress 17 and the JD(S) two. The Congress was simply not ready for an election. “We were expecting elections in November,” admitted one Congress leader.
The much-vaunted Bahujan Samaj Party was a no-show, although its state president Marasandra Muniyappa said his party had gained six per cent of the vote.
“While we stand in second place in 10 constituencies, we are the third in around 36,” he said. The giant killer of the day was Mr Yeddyurappa.
He ended his rival S.Bangarappa’s unbeaten electoral run as well as that of a number of senior Congressmen, such as former chief minister, Mr Dharam Singh, who lost by a paltry 56 votes while attempting a record ninth consecutive win.