Post-poll pact keeps BJP out

KARNATAKA DRAMA SEEN AS SETBACK FOR MODI AHEAD OF 2019 ELECTIONS

INDIAN opposition parties joined forces to snatch power from the country’s ruling party in the southern state of Karnataka, lay­ing the stage for other such alli­ances in a direct challenge to prime minister Narendra Modi’s re-election bid next year.

A coalition of Congress and a regional group said last Sunday (20) they will establish a govern­ment in Karnataka this week, after Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to prove its majority despite bagging more seats than any other party in a closely-fought election.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress party – which has strug­gled to make any major political inroads since Modi stormed to power four years ago – said his party will rally regional groups in­to a common front against Modi.

“I am very proud that the op­position has stood together and defeated the BJP, and we will con­tinue to do so,” said Gandhi.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal state in eastern India, described Modi’s failure in Karnataka as a “victory of the regional front”.

Karnataka, with a population of 66 million, was the first major state this year to elect an assem­bly. It will be followed by three more before the general election in 2019.

The BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa stepped down after just two days as chief minister and minutes before he was to have faced a vote of con­fidence in the Karnataka state as­sembly last Saturday (19).

The BJP deposed Congress as the biggest party after the Karna­taka election on May 12. But its 104 seats were not enough for a majority in the 224-member as­sembly. The Congress saw its numbers slashed from 122 to 78 seats, but it formed a coalition with the regional Janata Dal (Sec­ular) which finished with 37 seats.

“The mandate was not for Con­gress and Janata Dal. They lost the election but they indulged in op­portunist politics,” Yeddyurappa told the assembly.

Political strategists say polls in Karnataka, home to India’s “Sili­con Valley” in Bangalore, were seen as a key test of Modi’s popu­larity but the final outcome high­lights the threats he faces from a united opposition are much big­ger than anticipated.

“Formation of this coalition is a platform for an anti-BJP alliance for the next year,” said Sandeep Shastri, a political scientist at Ben­galuru’s Jain University. “Any shortfall in other states will further consolidate anti-BJP forces.”

In an apparent show of strength against Modi, most opposition leaders have been invited for the upcoming swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka’s new chief minister, said Sanjay Jha, Congress’ nation­al spokesman.

Jha said Congress’ spirit ahead of the 2019 polls was that of “nec­essary political accommodation” when it comes to forming allianc­es to stop Modi.

However, BJP leader Seshadri Chari said no opposition alliance will be able to stop Modi. “BJP will emerge as the single largest party (in 2019) with a majority,” he said.

Modi remains by far the most popular politician in India and his approval rankings far outweigh Gandhi, who is the fifth-genera­tion scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. (Agencies)