With the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka ending, its curtains down to a period of high-decibel campaigns and war of words, some of which, at times, went on to become physical.
If Congress anchored its campaign on the five guarantees and the Centre’s ‘injustice’ to the state which is going though one of its worst droughts, BJP mostly stuck to its ‘Modi development’ card and Hindutva rhetoric.
The murder of Neha Hiremath in Hubballi by her former classmate Fayaz Khondunaik almost a week before the first phase of elections set off a political storm in the region. BJP wasted no time in alleging ‘love jihad’.
The alleged sexual exploitation case involving Prajwal Revanna, the sitting JD(S) MP as well as candidate from Hassan, however, put BJP on the backfoot. This was the first time that BJP and JDS went to the polls in a formal alliance.
It was also an election season that saw fault lines forming in the BJP-Lingayat equations with some veteran leaders and seers from the community revolting against the candidature of Prahlad Joshi in Dharwad constituency.
There were also instances of villages boycotting the elections to register their protest against administrations that have been ‘deaf’ to their grievances.
Despite voter awareness drives by various governmental bodies, civic organisations and individuals, the first phase of elections saw a lower voter turnout of 63.9%.
Bengaluru’s apathy towards voting continued this election season too with almost half of the voter population staying away from getting inked. While the voting numbers in the urban region remained low, there seemed to be more enthusiasm in Bangalore Rural which recorded a relatively higher turnout of approximately 67%.
In the second phase, however, voters in the Kalyana-Karnataka and Bombay-Karnataka regions braved the scorching sun to record a relatively higher percentage. At 70.41%, the recorded turnout was, in fact, higher than what was recorded in the 14 seats in the previous Lok Sabha elections.
The state will now wait for nearly a month to know whom its people have favoured.