An impressive BJP and a hopelessly divided Congress: Analysing the Karnataka by-poll

Bengaluru, Dec 09: The thumping win by the BJP has ensured that it would continue to rule in Karnataka with a majority. Karnataka, no doubt has a history of electing the party in power during a by-election.

However, the fact here is that the Congress has yet proven that in Karnataka no one defeats the party, but it ends up defeating itself.

OneIndia caught up with leading psephologist, Dr Sandeep Shastri to decode the by-elections in Karnataka.

Dr Shastri says that let us keep in mind the history in Karnataka that a by-poll is always won by the party in power.

He further says that this is an indication of the attitude of the voters. The BJP needed 6 to stay in power and this has played on the minds of the people. The people wanted to give a clear majority and they also wanted stability. For the sake of a stable government, the voter has ensured that the BJP candidates have won.

Dr Shastri also says that the given the closeness of the race, the result had to do a lot with personal support that the 12 BJP MLAs had even though they changed the party. The victories in North Karnataka are a clear indicator of the BJP's traditional support in the region and the popularity of the candidates.

Finally the results also clearly show the failure of the Congress and JD(S) to get their act together. After their government fell they fell apart and they have remained apart. The fact that the JD(S) could not retain their seats show that the party has fallen apart.

The Congress lost 11 of its own seats and it has not recovered from its 2018 electoral defeat. It was their hopeless division that has led to their defeat. The fact is that in Karnataka, no one defeats the Congress, they defeat themselves, says Dr Shastri.