After all the campaigning noise, can we expect a clear signal? Exit polls in Karnataka point to yet another hung house, though with the opposition Congress party mostly ahead of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and possibly within range of a majority. To be sure, there’s wide variation in what various pollsters found, with at least one exit poll placing the BJP closer to the halfway mark. If we get no clear winner, how the game of power pans out might be up in the air, given the role that those elected on Janata Dal (Secular) tickets could play. Thanks to the state’s record of high drama over government formation, the word “stable” can easily be taken to connote a rickety place for horses rather than anything very firm.
The story this time, observers hoped, would all be reassuringly in the foreground. The campaigns of the top two parties seemed conscious of the whole country’s eyes on them for signs of what to expect as we approach general elections in 2024. The BJP ran on its usual nationalism with a religious hue mixed with development, while the Congress spoke of progressive prosperity, with volleys of charges traded by the two. The difference was sharp enough. Now let’s wait for the results.
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