The Election Commission (EC) has set the stage for yet another electoral showdown between the Congress and the BJP, this time in Karnataka.
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) has set the stage for yet another electoral showdown between the Congress and the BJP, this time in Karnataka.
The EC indicated on Thursday that the assembly elections would be held before the expiry of President’s rule in the state on May 28, setting at rest speculation that they may be put off because of the delimitation exercise.
The EC made it clear that it had completed the process of delimitation of all the 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka and was in a position to conduct elections according to the redrawn constituencies.
The schedule will be announced a few days later, EC officials said.
Both the Congress and the BJP have a lot riding on the elections. On Thursday, the Congress put up a brave front saying it “was raring to go”, but deep down senior Congress leaders admit that they have a fight on their hands. “It will be a tough election, we need to put our best foot forward to win,” said Prithviraj Chauhan, AICC functionary in charge of the state.
Having won the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly elections, the BJP will be hoping to make it three in a row and generate some fresh momentum in the run-up to the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi.
The Congress, on the other hand, is banking on the momentum generated by the budget and the number of popular schemes started by the UPA government at the Centre.
Apart from the threat posed by the BJP and the JD(S) in the state, the other big challenge before the Congress is restoring unity in its state unit. There are still some misgivings within the party over former chief minister SM Krishna and the party’s central leadership is worried that the infighting may hamper its chances in the elections.
“We have to first ensure that the party wins the elections and is in a position to form the government before we take up the issue of who will lead it,” said an AICC general secretary.
The party has decided not to project anybody as its chief ministerial candidate. It has also decided to put all its top leaders from the state in charge of different aspects of the election campaign. Plans are underway to make all the senior leaders campaign jointly in order to dispel the impression that the Congress is a divided house in the state.
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