Caste politics wreak havoc on Karnataka polls

Months before the election, CM Siddaramaiah's move to ask the Centre to consider that the Lingayats be accorded as a separate religion looked as a master stroke. But when the results trickled in on Tuesday, it seemed to prove otherwise.

Apart from the Lingayat consolidation, the other dominant caste group that left a mark in the polls was the Vokkaligas from the Mysore region who put their weight behind Kumaraswamy. It was the Vokkaliga consolidation that saw Siddaramaiah lose by a whopping margin of over 35,000 in Chamundeshwari.

In the six seats in Hassan and the seven in Mandya, the JD (S) gained the maximum tally. The community, interspersed across the state, has consequences in more than 30 seats across South Karnataka.

With complex caste equations dictating alliances and elevations, CM Siddaramaiah had already declared that he will vacate the seat for a Dalit face in the party if the need arose.

The Congress has seemingly managed to consolidate the SC and ST votebanks, apart from Siddaramaiah's AHINDA, translating to minorities, dalits and backward classes votebank. But once the results were in, of the SC/ST 51 seats, the party could cobble up a handful of 20-odd seats.

Experts said that the CM's emphasis on the AHINDA votebank did not work to the party's benefit. And it was in these seats that the tally cost the Congress dearly.

How The Communities Moved

• The other dominant caste group that left a mark in the polls was the Vokkaligas who supported Kumaraswamy
• The Congress has seemingly managed to consolidate the SC and ST votebanks