Congress Lok Sabha poll review for Karnataka: Adjustment politics helped BJP, party members tell fact-finding panel

Bengaluru: Adjustment politics and administrative lapses in the government among other reasons kept Congress from winning a higher number of Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka, party functionaries told a fact-finding team on Thursday.

The AICC team, headed by senior leader Madhusudan Mistry with MPs Gaurav Gogoi and Hibi Eden as members, started its two-day deliberations with Karnataka Congress functionaries to understand why the party could win only nine out of the 28 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP won 17 seats and JD(S) two.

Former lawmaker Manohar Ainapur told the fact-finding team that Congress MLAs in Vijayapura indulged in “match-fixing” with the BJP, resulting in defeat at the Bijapur segment. “In the Assembly polls, Congress MLAs won. But in the same constituencies, the BJP got leads. This is because of match-fixing, which should stop,” he said.

Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad too raised the issue of 'adjustment politics'. Apparently, he went to meet Mistry’s team with his own report explaining reasons for the party’s defeat in several segments, especially in the coastal region.

Speaking to reporters later, Hariprasad said Congress went into the Lok Sabha polls lacking the enthusiasm with which it fought the Assembly elections last year. “I also told the fact-finding team everything that happened over the last one year with respect to the way the government and party functioned,” he said.

Mistry’s team was told about possible ‘adjustment politics’ in Haveri where former BJP chief minister Basavaraj Bommai won by 43,513 votes. Haveri had more Panchamasali Lingayats than Sadar Lingayats to which Bommai belongs. The suspicion is that Bommai got help from some Congress leaders who are good with him.

Ministers questioned

According to one senior leader who briefed Mistry’s team, many party functionaries questioned the performance of ministers who were expected to deliver good results.

Eighteen ministers could not ensure leads for Congress in their Assembly segments.

“Many people said the performance of some ministers wasn’t good. Many sought a Cabinet reshuffle,” the leader said, adding: “There’s unhappiness with the party as well as the government.” Apparently, some functionaries also sought a new KPCC president, preferably a Lingayat.

Other reasons

Lack of coordination between the party and government was cited by many functionaries who briefed the fact-finding team.

Overdependence on the guarantee schemes, Neha Hiremath’s murder, underestimating PM Modi’s popularity, split in the Lingayat votes and the BJP-JD(S) alliance were other reasons.