Karnataka Verdict: Focus on local issues, united state leadership helped Congress craft historic win

Congress leaders address the press after the party's victory in Karnataka

On Saturday May 13, the Congress party won a historic mandate in Karnataka, scooping up 135 of 224 assembly constituencies with a vote share of 42.9 percent. In terms of numbers, this is the biggest legislative assembly win in the state by any political party in more than three decades.

Behind Congress’s win, party leaders and political experts say, was its focus on local issues, including its five guarantees and the united face of its state leadership. Experts also add that its electoral pitch, centred on the concerns of economically weaker sections, went in its favour.

In the last four years, this is only the second state election — after Himachal Pradesh in December — that the Congress has won on its own. Interestingly, it had successfully used the local issues template in Himachal Pradesh too by highlighting the concerns of those protesting against the Agnipath soldier recruitment scheme, and demands to bring back the Old Pension Scheme.

It would be interesting to see if Congress continues to make local issues its main plank in the upcoming state elections later this year in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, as well as Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Madhya Pradesh.

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Local Issues

A tweet by Siddaramaiah, former Chief Minister and a veteran party leader, encapsulated this. He said the verdict represented that people chose “honesty over 40 percent commission,” and “Karnataka pride over trouble engine” (a reference to BJP’s pitch of a double-engine government, with the same party in power at the centre and the state). These were two main local planks of the Congress in this campaign — corruption in the state government and Kannada pride.

As early as September last year, the Congress launched its “40 percent sarkara” campaign accusing the incumbent BJP government of corruption. It countered BJP’s pitch of “double engine” growth with the phrase “trouble engine.”

“One of the key lessons that Congress should learn from this verdict is that when it comes to state elections, they should try and focus on local issues as much as possible. They should not let the narrative become national. This is the victory of the local leadership,” Sanjay Kumar, Professor at the New Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), told Moneycontrol.

He added that this is a “model” that Congress can follow in upcoming state elections, but cautioned that it is easier to implement in states where the party is out of power. In Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, for instance, the party will have to factor in anti-incumbency while planning its campaign.

Apart from this, it also raised local issues like irregularities in the recruitment of police sub-inspectors, high fuel prices, rising inflation, and unemployment. But the Congress’ pitch was not confined to simply raising these issues but also extended to proffering solutions.

Its five guarantees or schemes focused on the youth and women, and includes a monthly allowance to the family matriarch, financial support to unemployed educated youth, 10 kg of rice per person per month to families below the poverty line, 200 units of free electricity to every household, and free travel for women in state transport buses.

“We have always focussed on raising local issues in Karnataka. This time too, we highlighted local issues. We were systemic and meticulous with the people’s programme,” BK Hariprasad, former Rajya Sabha member and Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka legislative council, told Moneycontrol.

“The verdict is a result of both the state and the national leadership coming together to run a strong campaign. Our national leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi campaigned aggressively and countered the claims made by the BJP,” he added.

United state leadership

While local issues were raised to build a well-crafted campaign, the party’s state leadership stuck to the script and presented a united face. Siddaramaiah and state unit chief DK Shivakumar often made public appearances together, and even appeared in an engaging video featuring them which was released in the run up to the elections.

This was significant because in the past, tensions between regional satraps in some states have cost the party elections and has even led to the fall of the Congress government.

“Raising local issues and presenting a united state leadership helped the Congress defeat the BJP in the state. Congress performed against all odds. Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar showed that the house is in order,” Manisha Priyam, a Delhi-based political analyst, told Moneycontrol.

The state Congress leadership’s campaign was bolstered by the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in his home state, and all the three Gandhis — Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka — who addressed public meetings.

“The party came out with a slew of promises even before the actual manifesto was released. There was a focus on economically weaker sections. Rural disgruntlement was very high and they were able to tap into it,” Priyam added.

“We made five promises to the people of Karnataka in our campaign… We will take this up on the first day and in the first cabinet meeting,” former party President Rahul Gandhi told reporters in New Delhi on Saturday.