By Sagar Satapathy: When compared to BSY, Siddaramaiah had a clear edge in Karnataka. So, Congress was supposed to sail through or become the single largest party in the State. Karnataka was probably the only state, which offered a golden opportunity to Rahul Gandhi and Congress to reinvent themselves. Almost all opinion polls had predicted a hung assembly with Congress being the single largest party.
My prediction just on the eve of Modi’s campaign that he could emerge as the game changer, turned out to be true. I clearly said once Modi and Yogi start campaigning in Karnataka, things may change drastically. And, it happened. Even they talked in Hindi (Which was portrayed as their weakness by Lutyen’s Media), they could still strike the right chord with common people.
Despite trying his best, Siddaramaiah could not beat the Modi-Shah-Yogi juggernaut. The trio did what was expected from them. Taking on PM Modi directly, backfired on Sidda. He could have avoided it.
Rahul Gandhi did whatever he could have done. Lutyen’s Media and Ecosystem too tried their best, but they failed to beat Modi march and Shah’s Chanakya Neeti. Also, Rahul fell into Modi’s trap with that “PM” statement. Modi cleverly and strategically made it Modi vs Rahul battle during the last leg of campaigning.
Under Amit Shah and BSY, the RSS cadres penetrated deep into the rural pockets too to sway the public opinion. Their efforts cannot be undermined. Without these BJP/RSS cadres, such a victory would not have been possible.
It’s a great victory for BJP indeed. But, they should not be complacent about 2019 Polls. They should try to fulfill the aspirations of common people.