Winning Gujarat will act as a morale booster for the Bharatiya Janata Party cadre in Karnataka, feels Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, while raising its hopes for a second term for the ruling party in the southern state. But the opposition Congress rejected Bommai’s claims. State elections are fought on local issues and victory or defeat in another state is not an indicator of how Karnataka will vote, it says.
“If we work with more vigour, our victory is guaranteed,” said Bommai. Gujarat in Karnataka is headed for elections in 2023.
Mysore MP Pratap Simha agrees that gujarat results Will further energize the cadre to work towards victory in the upcoming Karnataka elections. He feels that the people of entire Karnataka are in favor of Narendra Modi and BJP.
“People have looked up to the central leadership, be it Modi or Vajpayeeji’s tenure in state elections,” Simha said.
Congress leaders News18 spoke to were very happy about this Victory in Himachal Pradesh But express caution on its effect. He said that the results of one state do not directly affect the prospects of another state. Leaders said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi undoubtedly has a lot of influence in Gujarat, but his magic which can help Gujarat win the corporation or assembly elections, will have no effect in Karnataka.
Asked whether the Karnataka BJP could manage a chariot like Gujarat, Simha replied, “Not to the level we saw in Gujarat. But with the help of Modiji, Amit Shahji and Yogi ji, we can ensure that we remain in power.” He said the state unit will have to break the trend of alternate government and seal its place.
BJP national general secretary CT Ravi said that any election will have an impact on the election of another state. “Gujarat’s victory will also have a partial impact as it will boost the confidence of our workers. Local issues and performance of MLAs will also have an impact. It is important to ride on this victory in Gujarat and give the BJP another clear victory in Karnataka.
Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson and MLA from Chittapur, Priyank Kharge said, just because the Congress has lost Gujarat, does not mean it will lose Karnataka, and a win in Himachal Pradesh will not ensure victory here. “State elections are fought on local issues and the performance of leaders in the region,” he said.
Kharge further said that 40 per cent corruption and local issues like PSI recruitment scam, border-sharing and water-sharing will govern the elections this time.
AICC Tamil Nadu in-charge and Congress spokesperson Dinesh Gundu Rao points out that victory or defeat will boost or demoralize party workers, but it has no direct impact on the voters’ mind.
“When by-elections are held before the general election, the tendency is generally that the ruling party wins the by-election but they lose the general election. It is a different ball game,” he told News18.
However, both the Congress and the BJP have important takeaways from the two elections: State elections cannot be fought or won on the face of a popular central leader alone; People also see what has been delivered on the ground.
For the BJP, the lesson to be learned from the defeat in Himachal Pradesh is that it cannot rely solely on the leadership at the Center to pull it through every election, especially when there is a strong local leader at the grassroots level Be it political says analyst Sandeep Shastri.
“In Karnataka, both the Congress and the BJP have local leadership projections,” he said.
Shastri feels there are important lessons for the Congress to learn from the Himachal election, even if it has won there. They feel that the party did not make necessary efforts and almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
He remarked, “If the Congress had planned the elections better, it could have won a far more comfortable and impressive victory.”
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