South Indians are unimpressed by the prime minister’s charisma and his party’s divisiveness
was anxious to retain power in Karnataka. In the week before the affluent southern state’s assembly election on May 10th, India’s prime minister addressed 19 public rallies and six road shows across it. Keeping a “double engine” of
government, at the state and centre, he assured its voters, was their best way to protect Karnataka’s booming economy—which has seen average annual growth of nearly 8% over the past decade.won an absolute majority, with 135 seats, having secured the highest vote share of any party in the state for 34 years. As Congress activists celebrated, after a decade of almost relentless losses to theWith a general election due in May 2024, the result is a significant blow to Mr Modi and his party.
Karnataka’s voters were underwhelmed. Their state, like the south generally, has seen less communal conflict than northern India—notwithstanding some Hindu-Muslims tensions in Karnataka’s coastal region. The’s divisiveness therefore appears to have struck many as a northern imposition they could do without. This failure leaves thewithout a toehold in the south and, despite its dominance of national politics, in control of only half of India’s 28 state governments.
The result is a corresponding filip for Congress. After a long decline, India’s former party of government and its allies now control only seven states. Yet this victory will suggest to its bruised activists that Mr Modi is not unbeatable. Indeed, given the prime minister’s energetic campaigning, his personal aura of invincibility—a feature of his personality cult—has taken a particular knock.
Even so, there is little reason to expect a national turn against Mr Modi and his party. Karnataka’s voters have a strong tradition of anti-incumbency—they have not re-elected a government in more than four decades. Given that record, indeed, the’s vote share held up remarkably well. Most of Congress’s increased tally came at the expense of a third party, Janata Dal , which will play no role in next year’s general election.
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