The Election Commission of India (ECI) announced last week that elections to the 224-member Karnataka state Assembly will be held on 10th May in a single phase and the results will be announced on 13th May. The coalition government of Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) and the Indian National Congress (INC) won the last elections in the state, and H.D. Kumaraswamy was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on 23rd May 2018.
Although the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the highest number of seats in the assembly, it failed to secure a majority. However, following the 2019 national elections in the country, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won 26 out of the 28 seats, prompting the resignation of 14 INC and three JD(S) MLAs, triggering a political crisis in the state, leading to the resignation of Kumaraswamy and the swearing in of BJP’s B. S. Yediyurappa as the Chief Minister.
The state, which has not allowed an incumbent party to win control of its assembly in the past two decades, is seeing a tough fight between the BJP and the INC, with the JD(S) also having control over a significant vote bank in the state. While the high anti-incumbency in the state hints towards the Congress having an upper hand, the social engineering formula of the BJP, including the Modi factor could eventually help the party secure power in the state.