Congress seems to be securing a victory in Karnataka, what will ensure that final victory, is it the five promises or something more?
Now the latest opinion poll has revealed again that Congress would emerge as the single largest party in the upcoming Karnataka elections on 10 May. The opinion poll was conducted by India TV-CNX opinion poll. As per the projections, Congress could likely win 105 seats while the ruling BJP could see 85 seats. The opinion poll also projected Janata Dal Secular (S) may win 32 seats while others may win two seats.
Top Congress leader, DK Shivakumar tweets, “A sea of support for Congress Party’s vision and guarantees flooded Maralavadi! These pictures speak for themselves:
A sea of support for Congress Party's vision and guarantees flooded Maralavadi!
These pictures speak for themselves:#KarnatakaWantsCongress #KarnatakaAssemblyElection2023 pic.twitter.com/ZBEurxTrza
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) May 8, 2023
Congress supporter Paul Koshy shares: A clear mandate for the #Congress Party is emerging in #KarnatakaAssemblyElection2023 A higher voter turnout would be purely advantageous to #Congress The #BJP” (sic)
A clear mandate for the #Congress Party is emerging in#KarnatakaAssemblyElection2023
A higher voter turnout would be purely advantageous to #CongressThe #BJP may get reduced to less than 40 seats if the turnout is in the range of 72 to 73%. An average turnout of 60 to 65%… pic.twitter.com/lSsWO9f4Mz
— Paul Koshy (@Paul_Koshy) May 9, 2023
Ahead of the election, three opinion polls or pre-election surveys have revealed a major win for Congress, while an opinion poll by Zee News-Matrize has projected a win for the BJP, stating that it would emerge as the single-largest party.
As per the projects, Congress may get 40.32 percent of seats while BJP may get 35-5 percent of seats, followed by JD-S at 17.81 percent of seats.
As per cast and community-wise votes, the opinion poll projected that Congress may get 78 percent of Muslim votes, Kuruba (75.3 percent), Lingayat (15.11 percent), Vokkaliga (17.57 percent), SC (40.56 percent), OBC (34.58 percent), ST (42.35 percent). In comparison to this, BJP could get 2.07 percent Muslim votes, Kuruba (15.14 percent), Lingayat (75.8 percent), Vokkaliga (17.39 percent), SC (39.6 percent), OBC (51.7 percent), ST (32.18 percent). The projection also showed that JD-S may get 56 percent votes from Vokkaliga.
Siddaramaiah former chief minister of Karnataka, from the Congress and popular choice for chief minister again tweeted:
“Vote for Congress party for all-inclusive, all-round progress, Sarvodaya type of governance. Strengthen our hands working for you by voting for the Congress candidate of your constituency. Remember, “Congress win is your win”.
ಸರ್ವರನ್ನೂ ಒಳಗೊಂಡ, ಸರ್ವತೋಮುಖ ಪ್ರಗತಿಯ, ಸರ್ವೋದಯ ಮಾದರಿಯ ಆಡಳಿತಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಪಕ್ಷಕ್ಕೆ ಮತ ನೀಡಿ.
ನಿಮ್ಮ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಅಭ್ಯರ್ಥಿಗೆ ಮತ ನೀಡುವ ಮೂಲಕ ನಿಮಗಾಗಿ ದುಡಿಯುವ ನಮ್ಮ ಕೈಗಳಿಗೆ ಬಲತುಂಬಿ.ಮರೆಯದಿರಿ, "ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಗೆಲುವು ನಿಮ್ಮ ಗೆಲುವು".#ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್_ಬರಲಿದೆ_ಪ್ರಗತಿ_ತರಲಿದೆ pic.twitter.com/WCT2nzrDhK
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) May 9, 2023
Why Could Congress Win?
In 2018 Congress was close to bagging a victory
In 2018, Congress gets lesser seats in Karnataka though its vote share was nearly 2 percentage points higher than BJP At the end of counting of votes for 219 of the 224 constituencies in 2018, the BJP emerged as the single largest party bagging 101 seats, leading in three with a vote share of 36.2 percent while the Congress came second with a tally of 78 seats accounting for 38 percent of the votes. Thus Congress does have a definite presence in Karnataka which can be reninveted provided they play the electoral chess game right.
The promise of a Sarvodaya type of governance
Sarvodaya believes in a self-sufficient village system. This meant that every village would have a village council composed of one member from each family. It is the overall well-being of the village as a whole. This will promote and build up rural development which is a strong point for establishing victory for the Congress.
The five guarantees will not be hollow promises
Congress has promised five guarantees if they come into power: Preventing law preventing Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA from being implemented in Assam, 5 lakh government jobs, raising tea workers’ wage to ₹ 365, free electricity up to 200 units per household, and ₹ 2,000 monthly income support to homemakers. The benefits of ₹1,00,000 annually to every family will be provided by the new government.
General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee Priyanka Gandhi says, “The 5 guarantees that Congress has decided for you are not hollow promises, they are not lies. What these 5 guarantees say is that when the Congress government comes, we will do this work for you.
The past success of the IT boom in Karnata under the Congress versus the decline under the BJP
The last few years of Karnata have seen rocky shaky times, with spiraling price hikes, corruption, and unemployment. During the previous Congress government rule, one of the greatest things provided was the rise of information technology making Bengaluru the technology hub of India. Providing jobs to millions of people, Indians all over the land flocked to Bengaluru overcrowding the city and making fast bucks. Establishing call centers and BPOs all over in collaboration with the USA in particular made Karnataka the hot zone for jobs.
Gradually, all that fell apart with the BJP rule with their main focus on dividing communities. The Hijab rows, attacks on churches and pastors, and other such devices refocused attention on majority versus minority. Bengaluru, dipping in its glorious reputation for inclusiveness is seeing communal tiffs that are in turn weakening the economy.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “Congress will implement 5 guarantees In Karnataka, let Modi implement the same all over India.”
Assured that Congress will win due to the mismanagement of Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi also said, “I met Congress senior leaders before the elections were announced and asked them what the Congress can give to the people of Karnataka.
He said, “I also asked the women what they want from Congress when they have seen the BJP in power for three years with price hikes, corruption, and unemployment. Most of the women said that they want the Grahalakshmi scheme, Grahajyothi scheme, Annabaghya scheme, and Yuva Nidhi scheme. We agreed and assured them of all four guarantees. In Karnataka, the government is financially stable. All the guarantees will be implemented on the first day of the first cabinet meeting”.
Congress promises every family in Karnataka to benefit by ₹1,00,000 every year.
Top Congress worker, Srivatsa shared, “Congress has run the most positive campaign fully focusing on issues of common people. We have focused on helping people deal with price rise, helping youth who are unemployed, strengthening the hands of women and ensuring the poor live a dignified life.
Considering the diversity and geography of Karnataka, we have given region-specific manifesto promises to coastal Karnataka, Kalyana Karnataka, and Bengaluru.
In our last manifesto, Congress implemented 90% of our promises. This time, every leader has said the 5 Guarantees will be implemented in the first cabinet meeting.
In contrast, 40% of Commission BJP has run the most negative campaign ever. Relying totally on distractions, they have offered nothing to people. In fact, they don’t even talk about their manifesto or the earlier promises they fulfilled.
The Congress supporters call it a “Positivity and People-Centric campaign with trump Negativity. Karnataka will set the trend to bring back people’s issues to the fore.
40% BJP Beda, 5 Guarantees Congress Beku is the slogan on the mind of every voter who wants Karnataka to progress.”
ONE VOTE, 5 GUARANTEES – Every family in Karnataka to benefit by ₹1,00,000 every year! – front page AD in all Kannada & English newspapers.
Congress has run the most positive campaign fully focusing on issues of common people. We have focused on helping people deal with price… pic.twitter.com/0TYy01tDSm
— Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) May 9, 2023
It is believed that the Congress Party ushers to build a new era of peace, progress, and prosperity in sharp contrast to the communal instability, job losses, and price hikes over the last few years. Congress will probably win the elections due to its success in establishing jobs, prosperity, and a communally free state. Today, the citizens of Karnataka are sitting on the cracks of communalism and a decline in jobs, and with these failures glaring at the discouraged public, Congress will return back to power. This is also because, in their last manifesto, Congress implemented 90% of their promises. Prosperity and peace are the focus of the Congress and in keeping with their promises, people will vote for them.
