Key regions to watch out for in Karnataka

The three major political parties, the BJP, Congress and the JD(S), have distinct areas of influence within and across these regions.

Bengaluru, Jan 16: The election fever is at its peak in Karnataka. Every day throws up new issues that take centre stage, and parties are testing their impact on the electorate.

The Karnataka poll is undoubtedly a triangular contest among the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular).

The southern state of Karnataka is one of the three states, where Congress still holds sway over the voters.

Siddaramaiah, who wants to be the chief minister again, is leading the campaign in the state. He is highly confident that Congress would retain the state and win with a huge majority.

While, the BJP, led by star campaigner Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has left no stone unturned and campaigned extensively in various parts of the state.

The third force in the state, the JD(S), led by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, is also confident that his party would win enough seats to play a kingmaker role, if not from the government, in case the electorate throws up a fractured mandate.

Karnataka has always been one of the toughest elections to predict and in every election, it has been noticed that the state votes differently in each of the regions.

Ideally, Karnataka can be divided into six regions -Old Mysuru, Coastal Karnataka, Bombay Karnataka, Central Karnataka, Hyderabad Karnataka and Bengaluru.

The three major political parties, the BJP, Congress and the JD(S), have distinct areas of influence within and across these regions.

If we look at the past, the party which fails to do well in the Old Mysore region, Hyderabad-Karnataka region, and Mumbai-Karnataka region, fails to reach that majority mark owing to the stiff competition in each region.

In the past, the BJP has managed to perform well in North, Central and Western India, while the Congress and JD(S) have good hold over old Mysuru region.

Bangalore region: Bangalore region, traditionally a BJP bastion has 32 seats. The party did exceptionally well in this region in 2008 and also in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP would look to work its Modi charm in this region and this is expected to pay dividends.

Mumbai-Karnataka region: This is a crucial region for the BJP as it is dominated by his traditional vote bank the Lingayats. While the Lingayats have backed B S Yeddyurappa of the BJP, there could be a twist in the tale this year.

Central Karnataka: Both the Congress and BJP tend to do well in the region. The BJP would not have forgotten 2013 when it put up a disastrous performance in this region.
The Congress would be mindful of the fact that the BJP is a combined unit and there is a strong Central leadership as well which could help the BJP.

Hyderabad-Karnataka region: In this region, the Lingayats, Reddy brothers of the BJP and Mallikarjuna Kharge of the Congress would be the key players. The Lingayat votes in this region also would be crucial for the BJP. The Congress would bank on Kharge who has a considerable say of the votes of the backward community in this region.

Old Mysore region: This is a traditional hold of both the Congress and BJP. While the JD(S) has an influence on pockets, overall it has been a Congress stronghold. It is a Vokkaliga dominated region and both the Congress and JD(S) would look to pocket the votes.

The coastal region: The BJP made impressive strides in this region ever since Dhananjay Kumar had several years back beaten Janardhan Poojary of the Congress. The region has stuck with the BJP since then. However, 2013 saw a reversal and BJP put up its worst performance in recent times. The Church and pub attacks proved fatal to the BJP's chances in 2013 which was also coupled with the fact that the party was a divided unit.