Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, 2013

[The Outsider]

Really ignorant comment with regards to caste and TN. We are the only state in India If I am not mistaken that has as a principle banned including caste names along with individual names. And hardly have parties or prominent leaders based on caste either.Not sure what u have based this on

[adi B]

Not a chance. Dilli, Rajashtan, MP and C'Garh are going to polls in November and BJP is winning Raj, MP and C'Garh (and even Dilli f they can have effective leadership and Kejriwal fizzles out). In AP its a triangular fight between Cong, Jagan Reddy and TRS and nobody will come close to a majority. In Maharashtra BJP/Shiv Sena doesn't have good leadershi so Cong will win despite running an extremely corrupt, apathetic Govt.

bjp will defo win all the aforementioned states even in delhi i can assure..2nd para is spot on but still feel cong+ will win in AP

[bulbul]

bjp will defo win all the aforementioned states even in delhi i can assure..2nd para is spot on but still feel cong+ will win in AP

I don't think so. It's losing its appeal somehow , no charismatic leaders now , except Modi :((

[asterix]

I don't think so. It's losing its appeal somehow , no charismatic leaders now , except Modi :((

Which party has charismatic leaders and who are those leaders?

[bulbul]

Which party has charismatic leaders and who are those leaders?

Con party Sonia Gandhi Rahul Gandhi Priyanka Gandhi Robert Gandhi and Indian media.

[asterix]

Con party Sonia Gandhi Rahul Gandhi Priyanka Gandhi Robert Gandhi and Indian media.

I agree with you.. My Mishtake... :((

[Sachin=GOD]

I don't think so. It's losing its appeal somehow , no charismatic leaders now , except Modi :((

we are talking about State Elections, not the General Election and in the States, BJP still has Charismatic Leaders : In Rajashtan, Vasundhara Raje has more charisma than the entire Cong Leadership combined. In MP, Shivraj Singh has been the CM for 10 years and has done remarkable work and Cong only has Jyotiraditya Scindhia to counter him - Scindhia can get people to rallies but he cannot convert them into votes. In Chattisgarh, Dr. Raman Singh will win because he has done good work and because Ajit Jogi (the main leader in the opposition parties) no longer has the same appeal. In Delhi I will agree that BJP's leader Vijay Goel does not have charisma but here the Govt has become extremely unpopular because of corruption, many cases of rapes and the Govt's apathy towards the situation. The election in Delhi will depend upon whose votes does Kejriwal take away - if he takes away Cong's voters then BJP will easily win otherwise Cong still has a chance.

[ravishingravi]

Was just seeing section wise break up of the result. While anti incumbency was a factor, I think the stand against yedyurappa really hurt the BJP. It may have been right thing to do but it had political cost.

[bulbul]

If the three-way division in the Bharatiya Janata Party vote was clearly the single biggest reason for the Congress’ convincing victory in the recent Karnataka Assembly elections, perhaps the most significant element in the latter’s electoral strategy was “social engineering.†The party, senior Congress functionaries say, taking inspiration from the late Devraj Urs, adopted a formula that shifted the spotlight away from the two dominant communities in the State, the Lingayats and the Vokkaligas, to the OBCs, Dalits and minorities. Giving shape to this social combination was Siddaramaiah, the man who will be sworn in as Chief Minister on Monday: he was backed in this endeavour totally by Congress general secretary in charge of the State Madhusudan Mistry. Mr. Siddaramaiah, who himself belongs to the nine per cent-strong backward Kuruba community, was able to consolidate the OBC vote — as Urs had in another time — along with that of Dalits and Muslims who came out in large numbers to vote for the Congress. The fact that Union Minister Mallikarjun Kharge — who too played a significant role in these elections — and KPCC chief G. Parameshwara are both Dalits also sent out the necessary message to the community. As for Muslims, having watched the free run RSS-inspired organisations such as the Ram Sene have had in the State over the last so many years, they just lined up behind the Congress. Mr. Siddaramaiah has christened this social combination as “AHINDA†(alpasankhyak or minorities, induliga or OBC and Dalits), much like Madhavsinh Solanki, in another era, had forged the KHAM (kshatriya, Adivasi, Muslim) line-up in Gujarat.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/social-engineering-formula-helped-congress-win-karnataka-elections/article4709375.ece

[ravishingravi]

Interesting indeed. Further reinforcing my point About secularism in India . Btw I just love the term social engineering.

[bulbul]

Interesting indeed. Further reinforcing my point About secularism in India . Btw I just love the term social engineering.

Term is as good as Secularism :winky:

[jiggo]

So secularism = social engineering.

[Tiger80]

Karnataka elections: Narendra Modi is brave, Rahul, Sonia opportunists The Congress won elections in Karnataka this week, and the side story was the deflation of Gujarat’s chief minister Narendra Modi. He campaigned in the state (and received raucous crowds as he always does these days), but his party was hammered. This is seen, correctly, as his inability to influence national elections. Narendra Modi. AFP To me however the side story is different. It is a story of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi‘s shaming. The two campaigned aggressively in a state where their party was scheduled to win according to every opinion poll. In comparison, only a few months ago, they were all but absent from Gujarat, a state they were headed for defeat. Whatever else one may think of Modi and his managing of Gujarat, it is true that he is brave and commits himself. He would surely have known that his speeches would not sway an election in South India, but he came and he attacked the Congress. It was a selfless act for his party and a statement on his unchanging beliefs. This cannot be said of the Gandhis on the evidence of these two elections. They displayed opportunism and a fear of defeat that is bordering, I would add, on cowardice. Let me illustrate this with another example. In the 2002 elections in Gujarat, as pointed out by The Hindu newspaper, the Congress had two manifestos. It had one in English, about secularism and “the soul of India.” It had another in Gujarati, where this was not referred to. The paper explained why this was the case: “The Gujarati version of the manifesto has no space for secularism, the ideas of nationhood or even for denunciations of the Congress’ chief opponent that the English one has. This seems to suggest that Congress have accepted the BJP’s formulation that concern for India’s secular Constitution is restricted to a rump of English speakers, some, no doubt, among its party members. What is terrifying about this hamhanded piece of political cynicism is the assumption that the English speaking/English reading class can be silenced with words. And, that the Congress’ claim to inheriting the legacy of independence can be sustained through a linguistically targeted text. It would be facile to suggest that the Congress and the BJP are the same creature. But, while the BJP actively pursues an ideological agenda, the Congress has reduced its own to context-free slogans. If those whose hopes are riding on a Congress victory expect justice, and through it the restitution of the constitutionally guaranteed rights life and liberty of all Indians, then they will be disappointed. For, there is nothing in the Congress’ record to suggest that once in power it will make such a course of action a priority.” In December’s election, the English manifesto had also removed the obligatory references that were present 10 yeas ago. I was surprised on going through the manifesto to see that even the conviction of a minister was ignored. Only months before, Maya Kodnani, Modi’s minister for women and child welfare, was convicted for organising the murder of 98 Gujaratis including three dozen women and children. Why would the Congress choose to abstain from pointing this out? On television debates I was told by Congress spokespersons that it was because “everyone knows it”. That was a lie. The fact is that the Congressmen of the state convinced Sonia that there was no gain in pushing a secular line in Gujarat. Most Gujaratis are communal and will reject the message, is the logic, so let’s move on from that. This was bought as pragmatism by the Gandhis and they accepted it. They should have chucked the idea of winning in Gujarat and stood on a matter of principle. They have lost three elections in Gujarat anyway, so why sacrifice principle and ideology on such a poor gamble? The truth is that the line dividing pragmatism from opportunism can be fine. In my opinion, Congress has crossed it. Who will fight for pluralism in India if not the party of Gandhi and Nehru? They would be ashamed of the Congress today, and particularly of the opportunistic behaviour of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. http://www.firstpost.com/blogs/karnataka-elections-narendra-modi-is-brave-rahul-sonia-opportunists-773793.html?utm_source=MC_TOP_WIDGE

[jiggo]

It would be facile to suggest that the Congress and the BJP are the same creature. But, while the BJP actively pursues an ideological agenda, the Congress has reduced its own to context-free slogans. If those whose hopes are riding on a Congress victory expect justice, and through it the restitution of the constitutionally guaranteed rights life and liberty of all Indians, then they will be disappointed. For, there is nothing in the Congress’ record to suggest that once in power it will make such a course of action a priority.” In December’s election, the English manifesto had also removed the obligatory references that were present 10 yeas ago. I was surprised on going through the manifesto to see that even the conviction of a minister was ignored. Only months before, Maya Kodnani, Modi’s minister for women and child welfare, was convicted for organising the murder of 98 Gujaratis including three dozen women and children. Why would the Congress choose to abstain from pointing this out? On television debates I was told by Congress spokespersons that it was because “everyone knows it”. That was a lie. The fact is that the Congressmen of the state convinced Sonia that there was no gain in pushing a secular line in Gujarat. Most Gujaratis are communal and will reject the message, is the logic, so let’s move on from that. This was bought as pragmatism by the Gandhis and they accepted it. They should have chucked the idea of winning in Gujarat and stood on a matter of principle. They have lost three elections in Gujarat anyway, so why sacrifice principle and ideology on such a poor gamble? The truth is that the line dividing pragmatism from opportunism can be fine. In my opinion, Congress has crossed it.

This is coming from Aaker Patel is surprising. But better late then never to recognise Congress' filthy little tricks over the last 30 years. Congress is currently full of sh!t.

[hhunaeh]

How The Southern Portal Crashed Yediyurappa’s hubris helps mark the end of a discordant five years of saffron rule Saffron’s Eight Sins What went against the BJP Subversion of 2008 mandate ‘Operation Kamala’, getting elec*ted Congress MLAs to resign and contest on a BJP ticket to shore up numbers, insulted the voter ‘Resort’ politics Every few months, BJP loyalists and dissidents in blackmailing moves were pushing off to plush clubs and resorts with scant concern for public perception Corruption The mining scams of the Reddy brothers in Bellary and the denotification of land in other cities, sent several ministers and even CM Yediyurappa to jail Casteism Under Yediyurappa, the BJP put all its eggs in Lingayat basket, even replacing D.V. Sadananda Gowda with Jagadish Shettar to keep the community happy Sex scandals An MLA’s wife commits suicide in Delhi, another MLA caught smooching a nurse, three MLAs caught watching porn in the legislature, a minister accused of sleeping with a friend’s wife Church attacks Blind eye towards members of the Bajrang Dal who attacked churc*hes and prayer halls in Mangalore and Bangalore in 2008 to prevent alleged ‘forced conversions’ Moral policing Sri Rama Sene attacks on pubs in ’09, Hindu Jagarana Vedike attack on homestays in 2012, in the name of protecting ‘Hindu culture’; ‘jehad’ on inter-caste love affairs Infighting The Yediyurappa and Ananth Kumar factions were constantly at each other’s throats; the former’s exit is being attributed to the latter’s hold over L.K. Advani *** Can I be the CM? Can I? Can I? Siddaramaiah Two-time former deputy CM from the Old Mysore region. From the Janata stock. Took a padayatra to BJP bastion Bellary. [update: Siddaramaiah Elected as New CM of Karnataka- Web Ed] Mallikarjuna Kharge Union labour minis*ter from Hyderabad-Karnataka region, whose quiet, rock-solid loyalty to No. 10 Janpath, is legendary G. Parameshwar Australia-educated state Congress chief, a Dalit, whose chances dipped following a loss in his home-constituency Veerappa Moily, S.M. Krishna Former CMs eyeing their chances if the high command favours a dark horse to stave off dissent *** In the circular logic of politics, it’s apt that the election results in Karnataka generate a meaning that goes beyond immediate victors and losers, and has a relevance not limited to the state’s borders or political culture. The grizzled players of the state Congress, instead of losing themselves in celebrations, are eking out a moral from the story and holding it up for the big bosses in New Delhi to see. It’s a nervous message: corruption is bad politics. What’s behind this curious note of caution tempering the elation and relief at returning to power in Karnataka after a gap of seven years? The survival inst*inct, pure and simple—and an honest app*raisal of events as they evolved over the last few years. What lost the BJP its precious ‘gateway to the south’? There may be no answer as grand as the question. Yes, maybe a ‘correction’ to a rightward lurch in the polity, a bit of saffron fatigue. But equally, an accumulated frustration with the simple, everyday facts of massive institutional corruption. Dovet*ailed with visible misgovernance. The way Congressmen tie the narrative to the present situation at the Centre—with the UPA unwilling to let go of two ‘tainted’ ministers for even form’s sake—has a lot to do with how things unfolded in Karnataka. For, whatever gains the Congress secured in this election owes to what the BJP did during its five-year rule. More than the scams, it’s in being totally impervious to public opinion that the real damage came. A feeling had set in at some point that the party cared little about public perception. Which hopefully will not be the mistake the Karnataka Congress will make. Or will it? Things have started off with the usual sounds of tug and pull, with over half a dozen candidates announcing they had a hat in the ring for the top job. Opposition leader in the outgoing assembly and padayatra man Siddara*m*aiah and Union labour minister M. Mal*likar*j*una Kharge headed the list of pro**spect*ive CMs as we went to press; other major names in the air inc*luded Union oil min*ister Veerappa Moily and ex-KPCC chief R.V. Des*hpande. That said, matters are unlikely to come to a head, all players agreeing amicably that “everybody will abide by the high command decision”. The same cannot be said for the BJP’s innings that just came to an end: it had star*ted by changing its very outlook to power. Its innovative ‘Operation Kamala’, to wean away Congress and Janata Dal leg*islators who later got elected as BJP men, was a classic example of how demo*cracy can be subverted. It was as if, with opportunity knocking by way of its 100 seats—two short of the halfway mark of 112 in the assembly—it would brook no obstacle in the bid to grab and hold on to power. The lack of trust was obvious—it neither trusted the independents (whose support gave it a simple majority) nor its own partymen. Unlike the late Janata leader Ramakrishna Hegde, who was caught in a similar situation in 1983 but went on to provide a good government, the state BJP was just not prepared to make good on its first chance. To be sure, there was a dichotomy from the beginning between the principles enu*nciated by the party’s tallest leader then, L.K. Advani, at the time of the 2008 campaign (“Give us a chance to provide a clean government”) and the mechani*sms the BJP found handy to gain power. The Bellary iron ore mines had pretty much financed the whole campaign, and Operation Kamala to boot. There was going to be a payback time. B.S. Yedi*yu*rappa finally lost his hold on the sceptre by trying to manage the tensions inherent in the BJP’s deal with the Reddys. And then there was also the humbler corruption of those who were tasting power for the first time. Take the land deals, well exposed by H.D. Kumaras*w*amy of the JD(S). At one point, the ex-CM was pulling out one scam a day for almost a fortnight. Each of the deals were violative of all norms, including high court verdicts, and related to acquisition of land for BSY’s family members, or whoever found favour with the CM. By then, it was obvious that Yedi*yurappa considered himself a law unto his own. For, after all, hadn’t he led the BJP to power almost single-handedly, as he claimed to a senior party leader trying to reason with him on behalf of his collea*gues. Indeed, the BJP’s rise to power was entirely due to his caste base: the large, dominant community of Lingayats who had stood by him. But then hubris struck. He became so brazen that even standard practices his predecessors followed—like not ignoring a bureaucrat’s written note quoting high court rulings—was given the go-by. The man even denotified land on a site lawfully allotted to his law minister! The situation had clearly changed dramatically for the man who grew up in the RSS shakhas of Mandya. The time had come to unlearn the moral and cultural codes that had been drilled into him in the shakhas. The new mantra was RoI (return on investment). It’s what the Reddy brothers wanted. Yeddy went the whole hog: from land deals to mining; to backing the transfer of an honest forest official probing the theft of eight lakh tonnes of illegally mined ore the department had seized and retained at Belekere port; to the family’s Prerana Education Trust getting Rs 20 crore donations from the South West Mining Co and getting exposed by an active Lokayukta, Justice Santosh Hegde. And when the mining scam hit the ceiling, Yediyurappa punctured the party’s high command balloon further by walking in a procession to the Raj Bhavan to submit his resignation. It was also to send a message: that he alone mattered in the BJP and if it didn’t care, he would teach it a lesson. The high command, bent on protecting its ‘gateway to the south’, boosted his stature by caving in yet again. Why didn’t the party sack him then? Was it the fear of losing Lin*gayat support, as had happe*ned to the Congress when community strongman Veeren*dra Patil was remo*ved by Rajiv Gandhi in 1990? (It’s said that they never forgave the Congress—until now.) Whatever it was, BSY succe*ssfully converted every single crisis —even his three weeks’ stint in jail in the mining scam, the first ex-CM to do time—into an opportunity He succeeded in bullying the high command—despite the presence there of actively malevolent elements—into cha*n*ging rebellious CMs who were originally his choices. Sadananda Gowda and Jagadish Shettar were asked to toe his line. When they didn’t, Yeddy packed off his group of 60-70 MLAs to a resort. All this happened when the state was facing its worst ever drought in a decade. The man who grew as a leader of the farming community did not flinch once during this period at their plight. Worse, even the party high command did not think of the consequences. They would go to any lengths to appease him, because the route to power was the Lingayat vote and that was all that mattered to the party. It was not as if the rest of the ride was smooth. There were many ministers who fell by the wayside, rape charges, cheating charges, a medical education department recruitment scam, the stream of BSY’s close associates appearing one by one before the Lokayukta court on some charge or the other. His close associate, Shobha Karandlaje, also had to be dropped after dissident activity and because she was riding rough- shod over colleagues. Meanwhile, BJP MLAs were getting caught watching pornography in the assembly. Social harmony had become a bad word in the state lexicon. Church attacks, pub attacks, the state was in turmoil.. It was, again, a lack of trust that finally pushed him out of the party to launch the Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP). Loyalty was difficult under the circumstances: some of his closest associates stuck to the BJP to win in the elections. Yediyurappa may have won just six seats but he has delivered a debilitating defeat, one of the worst ever in Karnataka’s history for a ruling party. And it’s not as if he completely took away the vote of the Lingayat community. Even his community, on which he had banked so much, trusted the Congress in several parts of north Karnataka. It is where the Congress got the majority of its seats. Yediyurappa, in fact, delivered the state to the Congress. In fact, the Congress should be more than thankful to him for this victory. It’s got a decent 121 seats in its kitty, with 40 each going to the BJP and JD(S). It could have got more, maybe even 140-150, if only it had set its house in order by selecting the right candidates. More so in the Old Mysore region where the main challenger was the JD(S). To some extent, one of the reasons for it getting past the halfway mark in the 224-member assembly is the last-minute efforts to get disgruntled partymen working for the party. This exercise went on even in the last five days before polling. Indeed, even now there is no other election machinery that can match the Congress in the last few days of an election.

[hhunaeh]

BJP's handling of Karnataka absolutely opportunistic, says LK Advani New Delhi: Terming the electoral outcome in Karnataka as no surprise, BJP leader LK Advani today said the party had erred in not taking immediate and firm action on allegations of corruption against former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and that its handling of the state had been "absolutely opportunistic". In the latest post on his blog, Mr Advani said he felt sorry for the party's loss in Karnataka but he was not surprised. "The surprise would have been if we had won," he said. The veteran BJP leader said that had the party taken stern action when it became apparent that Mr Yeddyurappa, its first chief minister in the south, was "unabashedly indulging in corruption", the course of events would have been quite different. He said the results in Karnataka had a profound lesson for his party - as its tally came down to 40 seats from the 110 it won in 2008 - but also had one for the Congress. "The common lesson for both of us is: let's not take the common man for granted... If corruption provokes indignation in Bangalore, why would it not cause the same feeling in New Delhi," he asked. Mr Advani claimed that the common man may occasionally deviate from the norms of ethical conduct, but does feel extremely angry when he sees those at the helm of national affairs behaving immorally. He said it was a reason for intense allergy towards politicians generally witnessed nowadays. Referring to media reports that the BJP lost Karnataka because it threw out Mr Yeddyurappa, Mr Advani said the former chief minister left the party on his own. "Let me first point out that BJP did not throw out Yeddyurappa; it is he who broke away from the BJP and decided to form a factional party of his own, the KJP," he said, adding that the party had kept up frantic efforts for several months to keep placating the former chief minister. "The justification given was that if the party did not adopt such a 'pragmatic' approach, we would lose the only government that we had in the south," he said. He contrasted this with an example of Jan Sangh, the precursor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which faced the situation of having to expel six of eight legislators in Rajasthan after the elections in 1952 over their refusal to abide by the party line on the abolition of jagirdari system. Mr Advani said the then BJP chief Shyama Prasad Mookerji had told the party not to hesitate in taking disciplinary action. He said while instances can be cited when other parties get away with gross misdemeanours, BJP should realise that the yardstick by which the people judge it was not the same by which they judge other parties. He said BJP had aroused high expectations in people by its track record and even minor indiscretions could prove costly. "And our response to the Karnataka crisis was not at all a minor indiscretion. I have consistently maintained that our handling of Karnataka has been absolutely opportunistic," he said. Referring to reports in a newspaper that Congress president Sonia Gandhi will meet senior party leaders soon to discuss the cabinet reshuffle, Mr Advani asked if the prime minister "had abdicated his right even to decide about his own cabinet". Citing news reports that it was Mrs Gandhi who was instrumental in sacking Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar, the "two PM's men", Mr Advani said that "sheer self-respect demands that the PM calls it a day, and orders an early general election".

[hhunaeh]

Why Lal Krishna Advani is right on Karnataka By: Ashish Sharma Lal Krishna Advani has a lot to answer for. The senior BJP leader has appeared increasingly at odds with his earlier role as the man who contributed perhaps the most to build the party. He has come to inspire less and less confidence ever since he began positioning himself as a prime ministerial candidate, after illness forced Atal Bihari Vajpayee out of the reckoning. But none of that should detract from his consistent criticism of the BJP's handling of its affairs in Karnataka. Advani's essential argument that the principal opposition at the Centre should strive to be, and be seen as, a principled party across the country, is a no-brainer. It is an idea that the BJP can ignore only at its peril. Consider the claims of his critics, who are said to form the overwhelming majority in the BJP's parliamentary board. They have reportedly concluded that the party lost the recent assembly polls in the state mainly because the BJP's central leadership, acting on Advani's advice, forced the tainted former chief minister and powerful Lingayat leader BS Yeddyurappa to walk out and prop up a rival outfit. The BJP would have won 77 seats if the BJP and Yeddyurappa's KJP had fought the polls as a single force, they say. Further, they assert, the party would have won 94 seats and the Congress just 88 if the BJP's former member, B Sriramulu, had not formed his own BSR Congress either. However, this claim rests on the unwarranted assumption that the BJP would have won the 40 seats that it has in these polls even if it had not acted against Yeddyurappa after he was indicted by the Lokayukta in a report on illegal mining. Such attempts to reduce political morality to elementary arithmetic in the garb of electoral strategy expose the myopia that afflicts decision-making in the country's second largest party. Advani may have his own reasons for choosing to intermittently lash out at his party publicly, but his stand on Yeddyurappa as well as the former party president Nitin Gadkari does resonate with a large section of the electorate. The BJP ceded some of the political space against the corruption-scarred Congress government at the Centre to activists such as Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal precisely because it refused to clean up the mess within for far too long. The party's analysis of its debacle in Karnataka also appears jarring because it is reportedly preparing to project Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, partly because it recognises the public anger at corruption and hopes to gain from his image in this respect. The BJP has much to lose by appearing opportunistic, just as it did by dilly-dallying, on the issue of corruption in the run-up to the general elections.

[hhunaeh]

Karnataka Lokayukta Hegde to stay on after Advani intervenes It has saved the party from further embarrassment caused by the high moral ground that Hegde took on the issue of corruption in the state. It was the last minute intervention by the veteran BJP leader LK Advani that resulted in Justice Santosh Hegde’s withdrawal of resignation as Karnataka Lokayukta. It also saved the party from further embarrassment caused by the high moral ground that Hegde took on the issue of corruption in the state. Well-placed sources in the BJP said that Advani had been closely monitoring the developments, over the past one week, related to the extreme stand taken by Hegde particularly related to illegal mining in the state. However, reluctant as he is to be seen delving into the party affairs, he was asked by senior party functionaries to intervene in the issue. Advani reportedly had a telephonic conversation with Hegde on Friday and made an impassioned appeal to him to rethink his quitting as Lok Ayukata. According to sources, Advani assured Hegde that the state government would fully cooperate and look into his grievances. Once assured of a positive response from him, Advani followed up his telephonic conversation with a three-line press statement aimed at making a public commitment that the issue of corruption in mining and other issues in Karnataka. As part of a well-thought strategy on Advani’s part, his initiative coincided with the visit of the party president Nitin Gadkari to Bangalore on Saturday. BJP strategists thought it was prudent to not leave anything to chance, and follow Advani’s initiative with a meeting with the BJP’s top leadership with Hegde at his residence to assuage his feelings.

[hhunaeh]

Hegde to stay, says can’t ignore father-like Advani After two days of sustained pressure from the BJP top brass in Karnataka and New Delhi, former Supreme Court judge and Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Santosh Hegde announced on Saturday that he had decided to withdraw his resignation from the post. Justice Hegde had handed over his resignation to Governor H R Bhardwaj on June 23 in protest against the BJP government's "indifference" towards corruption in Karnataka. Worried that the move would cast a shadow on its government, the BJP has been trying to get Hegde to change his mind, with L K Advani putting his weight behind the appeals by the party on Saturday. The BJP leaders reportedly told the Lokayukta that the state government would take measures to tackle corruption, especially with regard to illegal mining. The Lokayukta himself said it was a request by Advani, a close friend of Justice Hegde's family, that persuaded him to reconsider. Advani was a friend of Hegde's father, the late Justice K S Hegde, a former BJP vice-president and Lok Sabha speaker. He had quit as a judge and entered politics after he was superceded to the post of the Chief Justice of India by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. "The respect I have for L K Advani has forced me to withdraw my resignation. It is not out of political pressure," Hegde said of the BJP leader, who had some time ago flown into Karnataka to attend a ceremony held in remembrance of K S Hegde. Advani also assured Justice Hegde that the Karnataka government would consider strengthening the powers of the Lokayukta — as promised by the party in its election manifesto. "For me Advani is like a father. He was a close friend of my father. I cannot go against his wish. I have to accede to his request. Not for any political reason, but because of my love and respect for Advani, I have decided to withdraw my resignation," he said.

[urbestfriend]

Was just seeing section wise break up of the result. While anti incumbency was a factor, I think the stand against yedyurappa really hurt the BJP. It may have been right thing to do but it had political cost.

First, Yeddy was given a free reign in Karnataka during last elections and he thought he is bigger than party. High command must have controlled him from the beginning , instead he literally blackmailed the central leadership. His ousting came very late , and being a narcissistic leader, he owed to destroy BJP in Karnataka. In fact his ousting didn't cause BJP much as BJP would have lost anyway due to bad publicity from last 5 years due to constant infighting.