General elections of 2024 are over and the outcome that came on June 4 will remain etched in the memories of many for reasons more than one.
People have given their mandate in favour of anti-incumbency with respect to the dispensation, which was there at the Centre.
However, results in certain states lay bare several facets of the outcome, leaving room to perceive things against the popular opinion.
In Karnataka, the Indian National Congress ended up winning nine of the 28 Lok Sabha seats. And the National Democratic Alliance registered victory in 19 constituencies— Bharatiya Janata Party (17) and Janata Dal (Secular) just two.
What numbers suggest?
Figures, in retrospection, have a distinct narrative to present which often get buried under jamboree concerning a particular section of the society.
In 2019, the Grand Old Party managed to gain only 1 Lok Sabha seat in the state. Hence, the jump is of eight seats this time. On a similar vein, yet distinctively, the BJP which gained 25 seats last time was restricted to 17 in 2024.
Additionally, as far as the vote share is concerned. The Congress has gained there too.
It registered a 13 per cent spike in its vote share in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The jump has been from 32.11 per cent in 2019 to 45.43 per cent this time.
The BJP, on the contrary, which had gained 51.75 per cent of votes in 2019 saw a dip in its vote share to 46.06 per cent.
Moreover, the Congress’s 2014 tally also has a story to present, its vote share rose to meet that of the BJP.
The difference in vote share of the Congress and BJP in 2014 was 19.6 percentage, this reduced to 0.63 percentage points in 2024.
More reasons to cherish
The Congress won the entire chunk of five seats in the backward and Kalyana-Karnataka region— it was a traditional stronghold of the party that was lost in 2019.
Also, the JD(S) candidate Prajwal Revanna, who was involved in a sexual abuse case and later suspended by the party, lost in Haasan constituency to Congress candidate Shreyas M. Patel who won with a margin of over 40,000 votes.
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s son-in-law won from Kalaburagi by over 27,000 votes.
The win in Kalyana-Karnataka for the Congress suggests a consolidation of its vote base among the backward castes, Dalits and minorities and a swing vote from women cutting across communities due to the guarantee schemes of the state government.
The Congress won a lone seat in the Mumbai-Karnataka region in Chikkodi where the state Congress minister Sathish Jarkiholi’s daughter Priyanka registered a win over the sitting BJP MP Annasaheb Jolle by a margin of over 90,000 votes.
The Grand Old Party must have tasted defeat in Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, albeit being in power in the state, if it looks above the popular opinion the Congress has reasons in its kitty to cherish Karnataka’s mandate.
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