When Karnataka had its first non-Congress government

Karnataka which will go to polls in May has many interesting facts when it comes to the way in which political battles have unfolded.

One interesting fact is that there was a time when the Janata Party formed the government with the outside support of the BJP, CPI and CPI (M).

It was for the first time in 1983 that the Congress had been defeated. In that election, no party secured a majority and the Janata Party led by Ramakrishna Hegde won 95 of the 224. The party fell short by a majority by 18 seats.

However, it went on to form the government with the outside support of the BJP, CPI and CPI (M). The BJP which contested in 110 seats won, 18, while the CPI bagged 7 and CPI (M), 4.

The Congress which was defeated for the first time in Karnataka managed to win 82 seats. The party also witnessed a dip in its vote share by 67 per cent.

Noted psephologist Dr. Sandeep Shastri says that this was the first time that the Congress had been defeated. Hegde continued to head a minority government in the state. It was an anti-Congress alliance that he headed, which lasted two years. Hegde then resigned and called for a fresh election in 1985.

The 1985 elections was a game changer for the state and there was a serious contender for the Congress, which had won election after election in the state. In that election, the Janata Party headed by Hegde went on to win 139 seats and perched itself comfortably above the majority mark of 113. The Congress tally further came down to 65. The BJP managed to win just 2 seats, while the CPI and CPI (M) bagged 3 and 2 seats respectively.

The experts had back then commented saying that this was a spectacular victory for the Hegde-led Janata Party in Karnataka.

Hegde a Brahmin had emerged as the consensus candidate between the powerful Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities. He became the first non-Congress chief minister of the state.

Although he formed the government with outside support in 1983, he went on to resign owing to the poor showing of the party in the Lok Sabha elections. The Janata Party won only 4 of the 28 seats in the state, following which Hegde sought a fresh mandate in the state.