Following over two months of intense and extensive political action, the 2024 Lok Sabha election is well and truly over. The NDA is back in power and Narendra Modi has taken oath as the Prime Minister of India for a third term.
As the dust settles on one of the most keenly-watched poll season, let us evaluate the electoral outcome in the State.
The BJP, which was decimated in last year’s Assembly elections, won 17 seats. However, it also saw some upsets in the North Karnataka region, where the Congress wrested key seats from the saffron party to increase its tally to 9. Interestingly, the numbers are identical to the outcome in the State in the 2014 elections.
While the Congress government’s five ‘guarantee’ schemes — its major poll plank — could not help it break the single-digit jinx, it does seem to have contributed to increasing the party’s vote share from 31.88% in 2019 to 45.43% in 2024.
What do the numbers say about the unexpected upsets and strategic gains this elections? Did Congress’ guarantee schemes work or was the BJP too overconfident? Between class and caste, which one had a greater impact on people’s votes?
To decode the electoral trends and voting patterns that Karnataka displayed this polls, we have with us Dr. H.V. Vasu, the editor of Kannada web portal Eedina.com.
Host: Nalme Nachiyar
Video and production: Ravichandran N.
