The Karnataka Assembly battle is going to be a trendsetter for the Congress which will also prove whether Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is a vote-catcher outside his state.
“This is going to be a historic election like that of Chikmagalur Lok Sabha byelection of Indira Gandhi in 1978. This had kickstarted the process of Congress’ revival and it finally came back to power at the Centre in 1980,” recalled an AICC official.
According to the party insiders, the Karnataka polls would have a bearing on the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Delhi to be held by the end of this year.
These elections would see a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP.
If the BJP’s defeat in Karnataka would check the campaign of “Modi lao, BJP bachao (Bring Modi and save the BJP)”, it will also prove that the saffron party is confined to the Hindi hearland minus Uttar Pradesh.
Mr Modi is trying to sell his Gujarat development card but it has not influenced the BJP chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and even Goa, they pointed out.
The BJP could not spread in southern states, especially Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu despite being in power in Karnataka for a full term.
The BJP leaders used to describe Gujarat as the party’s “Hindutva laboratory” but now it is known as the “Modi land”. And its moral image — chaal, chehra and charitra — shattered in Karnatka on the corruption issue which led to the split the party. The Congress campaigners would raise this during the election meetings.
Meanwhile, Mr Modi’s name in the list of the BJP’s top campaigners in Karnataka is missing.
According to reports coming from Bengaluru say the BJP president Rajnath Singh and Mr L.K. Advani are among the key party leaders who will be campaigning for the May 5 Karnataka Assembly elections.
“Our national leaders L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj will be descending in the city for poll campaign by attending Sankalpa Convention on April 8,” state party spokesman C.T. Ravi said.