In Karnataka, a litmus test for an Opposition minus the Congress

The K Chandrashekar Rao led, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has decided to back the Janata Dal (Secular) in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections.

A senior leader of the BRS told news agency PTI that they want to ensure that the JD(S) is successful in the elections.

With the backing of the BRS, the JS(S) wants to ensure that it does well in belts where the Telugu speaking people are strong. The JD(S) s looking to shrug its Vokkaliga only image and is reaching out to multiple communities to ensure that it gets more seats in the elections.
Elections in Karnataka are due by May 2023.

The JD(S) has also got the backing of Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress. She would be campaigning for the JD(S) during the elections.

While on one hand, the JD(S) is looking to expand its outreach in Karnataka, these developments should be seen in the context of the 2024 Parliamentary elections. The Opposition has been trying to regroup to defeat the BJP. However, the difference is that these parties have left the Congress out of its larger plan.

In the 2018 elections, while the BJP has emerged as the single largest party, it was the Congress and JD(S) which went on to form the government. The swearing-in-ceremony of H D Kumaraswamy was attended by almost al Opposition leaders including Congress supremo, Sonia Gandhi.

This time around the Congress has decided to go it alone and the other Opposition parties have left the party out of its larger plans. Not just in Karnataka, but the same can be seen in the national level as well. Most parties feel that if they need to take on a mighty BJP, they have to keep the Congress out of their scheme of things.

The experts say that the issue of Opposition unity has been back and forth. While all parties have stood united and are protesting the conviction of Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case, it is highly doubtful if they would come together where the elections are concerned.

In the previous West Bengal elections, the TMC had not contested in an alliance with the Congress. Even in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party (SP) had fought the battle on its own. The JD(S), which had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with the Congress too has decided to go it alone this time.

The results in the Karnataka assembly elections would be a test of how well the Opposition unity would work. It would also be interesting to see how the Opposition minus the Congress would work in the electoral scenario.