Karnatakamusings

This is a column on the happennings in Karnataka, with particular reference to current affairs bringing to bear more than four decade old experience in covering the current affairs in Karnataka.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Wave in Karnataka

Mathihalli Madan Mohan
Senior Journalist and Columnist
Hubli 580032
Mobile: 94480-74872



Wave in Karnataka



           
Hubli, 21st Apr 2014

It can be confidently said that there was indeed a wave in Karnataka, which has resulted in higher poll turn out in the just held poll for 28 loksabha seats from the state, though the cause of wave is a debating factor, which can be resolved only when the counting begins next month.
One of the frequently asked question during the days preceding polling was whether there was a wave in Karnataka, with the two main averring it to be so, with the BJP attributing to  prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, while Congress alluding to performanance of the one year old government of Mr. Siddaramaiah. Others dismissed it as saying that there were no visible signs of wave.
The poll turn out on 17th    confirmed that there was indeed a wave, which was more subterranean than visible, and swept Karnataka as unobtrusively as possible. For the Karnataka voters bucked the tendency of a lower turn out in parliament poll separately held  and what was noticed was record turn out with two thirds of the electors turning up at the polling booth on their own  despite the scorching sun in most of the area, dispelling the impressions that polling day having been sandwiched between the series of holidays, would have an adverse effect on polling, with most of them in urban areas  especially in Bangalore going out on a holiday instead of exercising the prerogative conferred by the Constitution. Even in Bangalore, which has four parliamentary constituencies, there was a comparatively a higher turnout though turn out failed to reach the sixty percent mark as has been seen in constituencies outside Bangalore.
It has been a common experience that poll turnout in a loksabha election, when separately held is always lower than the assembly elections. This is mainly because of the lower intensity of the electioneering. And some of them, who have not voted for the national parties, have a tendency to stay away from the booths.  But lower turnout notwithstanding, the two national parties tend to get higher electoral support, because of another tendency noticed of the voters who had not voted for the national parties in the assembly election veering round to either of the national parties in a parliament poll.
There were indeed other factors, which would induce lower turn out. For the electioneering by the parties, hardly raised any new issues or debates on ideological plane to enthuse the voter.  The two political rivals, the Congress and BJP, involved in no holds barred tussle for occupying the Delhi throne, ran a campaign, which was full of invectives and mutual recrimination, which caused more nausea than anything. Their manifestos had hardly anything new and credible to offer. The performanance of the Congress led government at Delhi and Bangalore, the latter being just one year old, had hardly anything to crow about. The BJP was still trying   to regain the credibility which had it lost due to its misrule for which it was punished by the electorate in the assembly elections last year and was bravely trying to put a united face by bringing back home Yeddyurappa and Sriramulu, There were many who had serious reservations about the outcome of this exercise, which was more a political necessity for survival than meeting of the minds.
That the two parties, were  unsure of their image was evident from the manner in which both of them enlisted the service of the celluloid star for mobilization of crowds and road shows, which only proved to be photo opportunity for them, rather than bridging the growing disconnect  between  parties and the people  in general.  The only sign of a higher turnout was the phenomenal increase in the enrolment of the new voters, which stood at a whopping 25 lakhs within a year of the assembly elections in Karnataka, with 15 lakhs having joined the electoral roll within the three month period preceding the poll.
It has been the common experience that the lower turn in parliamentary election singly held is always on the lower side. The normal gap is put around 5%. In the present context with Karnataka having 461 lakh electorate one percent means 4.61 lakhs.  Though in the ultimate analysis, the gap in the turn out voters between the assembly and parliament election could not be bridged but had been considerably reduced. While 312 lakh people had exercised their franchise in the assembly election, around 309 lakh voters did so at the just concluded loksabha poll. The gap was less than one percent of the electorate, which is quite heartening indeed.
. In  eleven of the  28 parliamentary constituencies, namely , Belgaum, Gulbarga, Bellary, Dharwad,  Udupi -Chikmagalur, D Kannada, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore  Central, Bangalore South and  Chickballapur, the voting in the  loksabha election was much more than what was noticed in the 2013 assembly election. It ranged from the highest of 1.26 lakhs in Bangalore South, where a key fight is on between Ananth Kumar of the BJP, on to his sixth term in a row and Nandan Nilekani, of Congress, the software wizard, to just around 5400 in the backward region of Gulbarga, which is getting baked under a scorching sun, where the Union Minister for Railways Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge is seeking reelection from a reserved constituency.
Was   the increase in turn out, a product of the Modi wave, as the BJP would like us to believe? For it is a known fact that almost all BJP candidates in the frey, including the BJP strongman in Karnataka, Mr. Ananth Kumar, a known follower of Advani, who is involved in a pitch battle with software czar Nandan Nilekani in Bangalore South for his sixth term in loksabha did seek the support in the name Mr. Modi and not in the name of the party or party’s programme. And the publicity material brought about the party focused on more on “Modi” factor rather than that of party. (As a contrast, none in Congress claimed a vote in the name of Rahul Gandhi, the Vice President who led the campaign, and who would be the prime minister in the event of UPA coming to power, which is unlikely as is evident from the opinion poll surveys already made).
One factor quoted in support of the Modi wave, has been the higher enrolment of the new voters. But the credit for higher involvement goes more to the vigorous campaigning conducted by the NGO groups and the pro active stance taken for the first time by the Election Commission in creating awareness about voting among the citizenry. This has been inspired by the Kejriwal phenomenon with the AAP downing the political Goliaths in Newdelhi through the instrumentality of the higher enrolment and participation in polling. One has no alternative under circumstances to inevitably vote till the counting begins to know what type of wave swept in Karnataka – a Modi wave or an AAP wave.  If, it was a Modi wave, it would certainly help BJP to retain the 19 seats it had won five years ago, its loss of power in the last year’s assembly election notwithstanding. Otherwise, it would cook the goose of BJP, and work to the advantage of the Congress,
The interesting question would be how and to what extent the higher turnout would tilt the balance of power in the 28 parliamentary constituencies.  It all depends on the differing political profiles of these constituencies. It is a tussle between Congress and BJP in all the twelve parliamentary constituencies in Northern Karnataka and two coastal region constituencies of D Kannada and Udupi.The JDS is not in the picture at all in these constituencies.
In the four constituencies in and around Bangalore, namely, Bangalore Rural, the Bangalore North, the Bangalore Central and Bangalore South, the JDS is relevant only in Bangalore Rural and in the remaining three, it is again the tussle between Congress and BJP.
The two constituencies,  Hassan and Mandya, feature a fight between Congress and JDS, with the BJP having a notional presence. In the remaining eight constituencies, it is a three way fight between Congress JDS and BJP in that order, with the first two enjoying better political clout. Kolar and Chamaranagar have been regarded as Congress bastions.
Since the political strength of a party is basically reflected in the assembly elections, the votes got in the last years assembly election collated parliamentary constituencies, throws up an interesting political scenario.
BJP led in vote share in ten parliamentary constituencies, namely, Chikodi (1.80 lakhs). Belgaum (1.56 lakhs), Gulbarga (less than 800), BIdar (1.61 lakhs), Koppal (77,000), Bellary (1 lakh), Dharwad (49,000), Kanara (less than 500), Shimoga (1,26 lakhs) and Tumkur (1.51 lakhs).
It was the Congress, which found itself better placed in lead  in sixteen constituencies, namely Bagalkot (63,000), Bijapur (54,000), Raichur (54,000), Haveri 7800), Davangere (82,000), Udupi Chickmagalur (8200), D Kannada (11,000), Chitradurga (1.23 lakhs), Mysore (1,55 lakhs), Chamaraj Nagar (44,000), Bangalore Rural (1.96 lakhs), Bangalore North(1.19 lakhs), Bangalore Central (51,000), Bangalore South(37,000),Chikballapur (1.69 lakhs) and Kolar (1.92 lakhs).
JDs had a  lead in Mandya (2.86 lakhs) and Hassan (1.27 lakhs).
To what extent these leads get altered either way, thanks to the entry of 25 lakhs   first time voters’ remains to be seen. One has to take cognisance of the fact that JDS, which tends to lose the support in  parliament election.
Eon 

Highlights
·         There was wave in Karnataka in loksabha elections.
·         Not clear whether it was pro Modi, or pro AAP
·         Two main political parties, had hardly anything to offer  except a plethora of mutual recriminations and invectives
·         Performananance of Congress at Central and State level was nothing to crow about
·         BJP gamely trying to paper out its mutual bickering of past
·         Poll turnout was record with two thirds of electorate turning up
·         Gap in vote share between assembly and loksabha elections practically bridged, which is another new phenomenon
·          In 2013 elections, BJP led in  parliamentary constituencies in vote share
·         Congress similarly led in sixteen parliamentary constituencies
·         JDS led in only two
  
 
.

.


Poll turn out
2014P
2013A
Diff
1Chikodi
1070610
1072557
-1947
2Belgaum
1077823
1060925
16898
3.Bagalko
1078520
1106281
-27761
4Bijapur
968286
1038316
-70030
5Gulbarga
996848
991399
5449
6Raichur.
968071
1006104
-38033
7Bidar
962279
1021573
-59294
8Koppal
1006685
1068431
-61746
9Bellary
1045454
1026182
19272
10Haveri
1115328
1150305
-34977
11Dharwad
1040096
1034887
5209
12Kanara
1000834
1037159
-36325
13Davangere
1114385
1174993
-60608
14Shimoga
1129043
1130929
-1886
15UdupiChic
1032373
1015714
16659
16Hassan
1146354
1193231
-46877
17DKanna
1207162
1123194
83968
18Chitradurga
1097380
1243758
-146378
19Tumkur
1100617
1165404
-64787
20Mandya
1191708
1274912
-83204
21Mysore
1145140
1176362
-31222
22Chamarajnagar
1132553
1179275
-46722
23BangRural
1506780
1433174
73606
24BangNorth
1355372
1303468
51904
25BangaloreCentral
1075390
994542
80848
26BangaloreSouth
1113029
986040
126989
27Chikballapur
1261090
1250754
10336
28KOlar
1125529
1185367
-59838
Total
31064739
31445236
-380497
P stands for parliament
A stands for assembly
(Source: CEO Bangalore

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

First time voters hold balance

Mathihalli Madan Mohan
Senior Journalist and Columnist
Hubli 580032
Mobile: 94480-74872

(Attn Mr. Guruprasad)

First time voters hold balance


For ENARADA-  (41)
           
Hubli, 16th Apr 2014

A record number of newly enrolled first time voters and the political debutant Am Admi Party (AAP) hold all the aces in the political battle for ballots between   the Congress and BJP   for the 28 loksabha seats in Karnataka, for which the poll will take place on Thursday the 17th April.
.Karnataka has witnessed unusual flurry of enrolment in the electoral rolls, with record number of record number of 25 lakh being registered within one year, of which 15 lakhs walked in within three month period preceding the polling day. The average increase of voters for all the 28 loksabha seats from Karnataka is around 90,000, the highest being 2.74 lakh in Bangalore North to  51.000 in Kanara parliamentary constituencies.  Barring ten parliamentary constituencies, where each of them had a lead of over one lakh votes over other in 2013 assembly elections, the differences between the BJP and Congress comes within the ambit of the average increase in voters in at least 14 parliamentary constituencies. Whatever may be the poll turn out; this is one segment of voters who would not be missing the maiden opportunity to cast votes, since they have deliberately enrolled themselves for the purpose.
If the new voters turn out to be part of the undercurrent of Modi wave in Karnataka, the balance will tilt in favour of the BJP enabling to retain the same number of 19 seats  (plus or minus one) it had won  five years ago, notwithstanding the  reverses it had suffered in the 2013 assembly election.
If, on the other hand, they are part of the Kejriwal phenomenon who has proved that higher voter turnout can bring political changes, and plump for AAP, which is an underdog in the Karnataka electorate, whose presence has been hardly taken cognisance by the media, then nothing may happen to Congress but the BJPs game of raking maximum seats from Karnataka gets spoiled.
The question of new voters veering towards the Congress simply does not arise, since they are known to be basically antiestablishment.  Moreover in Karnataka, the anti incumbency factor operates against the Congress at two level, the Centre and the state, with  the one year old Siddaramaiah government hardly doing anything to convert the negative votes into positive votes for Congress.
All along, BJP was the only political alternative available to the new voters in Karnataka, which happened in the three assembly elections of 199, 2004, ad 2008 and 2009 loksabha elections. (2013 assembly elections was a little different. The BJP got its quota of increase, while the other claimants like Congress and JDS got the benefit).
 But this time, the entry of the AAP, in the electoral scene has put spanner in the proBJP proclivities of the new voters. Besides the flurry in the enrolment is a product of the Kejriwal phenomenon of Delhi and hence AAP cannot be treated as an unknown political entity.
 And hence the claimants for attention of the new voters have been two instead of BJP being exclusive recipient of attention in the past.
On the basis of the political balance evident in the 2013  assembly, elections,   the Congress has a lead in as many as  16, the BJP in 10 and JDS in 2  parliamentary constituencies and give plus or minus two, it can expect to chalk out victory in about 14 constituencies in the minimum, even without any additional support.
 But if the new voters plump for BJP as it used to  be done in the past, nine of the constituencies where the Congress is in the lead, would undergo change to advantage of the BJP, which would help the party to retain the plus or minus one of the total of 19 seats it had held in 2009.
But if the new voters turn their attention to AAP or even share their largesse equally between AAP and the BJP, the latter’s goose is cooked, with the Congress emerging as the party winning the largest number of seats, pushing the BJP to the second position. In the four parliamentary constituencies in and around Bangalore namely Bangalore Rural,  Bangalore North, Bangalore Central and Bangalore South, there is a total of 7.29 lakh new voters. If all of them gravitate towards the AAP, the BJP’s prospects of upstaging Congress will go awry and BJP’s national leader from Karnataka, Mr Ananthkumar will be in problem.  
The prospects of the new voters looking towards the JDS, the  third political party in  frey are not bright, since  it is known that the party not a favorite of the voters in the parliament election and is prone to suffer from the erosion of support instead getting any accretion to its base.
Standing based on
2013    Assembly   Performanance
2014 LS Polls
Cong
BJP*
JDS
Diff
First time  voters
Cong/BJP
Lead
1Chikodi
399096
499999
87985
-100903
BJP
58834
2Belgaum
307803
464431
102091
-156628
BJP
81472
3.Bagalko
503540
453274
82103
50266
Cong
77780
4Bijapur
371194
307765
240580
63429
Cong
95351
5Gulbarga
399302
400084
113668
-782
BJP
160328
6Raichur.
382354
327767
228635
54587
Cong
99226
7Bidar
275526
437370
170419
-161844
BJP
57837
8Koppal
404374
456898
144577
-52524
BJP
67754
9Bellary
337329
414420
109796
-77091
BJP
90932
10Haveri
500753
492937
36571
7816
Cong
91933
11Dharwad
327346
376749
155666
-49403
BJP
81532
12Kanara
298930
299420
212236
-490
BJP
51566
13Davangere
494372
410350
137820
84022
Cong
93253
14Shimoga
284321
408936
267730
-124615
BJP
73991
15UdupiChic
374814
366555
76338
8259
Cong
61165
16Hassan
395205
267696
480364
127509
JDS
85923
17DKanna
482896
471816
45888
11080
Cong
68412
18Chitradurga
505023
381359
200687
123664
Cong
77152
19Tumkur
274662
426572
416402
-151910
BJP
80245
20Mandya
347058
60103
542490
286955
JDS
94896
21Mysore
443463
288033
303172
155430
Cong
110059
22Chamarajnagar
382022
337877
198575
44145
Cong
58557
23BangRural
500947
304265
468468
196682
Cong
166128
24BangNorth
489864
369994
322666
119870
Cong
274763
25BangCent
324315
272642
131579
51673
Cong
175009
26BangS
411494
373589
130796
37905
Cong
214629
27Chikballapur
430793
261033
312080
169760
Cong
99039
28KOlar
313511
121160
368127
192351
Cong
88289
*Combined votes of BJP+KJP+BSRCong
Source: Election Commission of India

Eom 16th April 2014.





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Journalist with standing of more than fifty years in the profession. Retired as the Special Correspondent of The HINDU and has become a columnist on current affairs, the panchayats and other allied subjects