BJP is Growing . . . No room for Secular Activists to Sit back

The Hindu, May 19, 2009

BJP is making steady gains in new areas

by S. Rajendran

BJP got 42.33 per cent votes, Congress 37.92 per cent

JD(S), which contested in 21 places, polled 17.01

per cent votes

With just 4.41 per cent votes more than Congress, BJP has won 19 seats

BANGALORE: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has emerged as the leading political party in the State in a short span of a decade while the Congress has taken the second place in the recent Lok Sabha elections. The Janata Dal (Secular) ranks third.

The vote share of the BJP has increased by nearly 8 per cent in the recent general elections compared to its share of votes in the 2004 elections.

The vote share percentage of the BJP is now 42.33 compared with that of the Congress which has polled 37.92 per cent votes and the Janata Dal (S) which polled 17.01 per cent.

The Janata Dal (S) contested only in 21 constituencies.
Good show

The vote share indicates the growing popularity of the BJP. Apart from winning 19 of the 28 seats that it contested, the BJP has performed reasonably well in the six constituencies that it lost to the Congress and another three to the Janata Dal (Secular), emerging as the main rival to the Congress or the Janata Dal (S) in these nine constituencies.

This is an indication that the BJP’s presence is spread throughout the State similar to that of the Congress.

With only an additional 4.41 per cent of votes compared to the Congress, the BJP has won 19 seats to the six seats won by the Congress.

The Janata Dal (S) has scored well in Hassan and Bangalore Rural where its candidates, the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy respectively have won by a big margin of 2.91 lakh votes and 1.30 lakh votes over their nearest rivals, again the candidates of the BJP.

Mr. Deve Gowda has obtained 50.64 per cent of the votes polled (9,80,348) while Mr. Kumaraswamy polled 44.73 per cent of the votes (11,02,833).

In Mandya, N. Cheluvarayaswamy has polled 37.28 per cent of the votes compared to 34.99 per cent polled by M.H. Ambareesh of the Congress.

The Janata Dal (S) contested for 21 seats and in most constituencies the party has scored around 10 per cent of the votes polled barring in Kolar (21.78 per cent), Tumkur (34.41 per cent) and Koppal (23.90 per cent).

Prof. K.E. Radhakrishna, party’s candidate in Bangalore South, secured 3.31 per cent of the votes polled in the constituency.

Those who have obtained more than 50 per cent of the votes polled in their respective constituency are Suresh Angadi (Belgaum) 50.93 per cent, Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) 55.97 per cent, B.Y. Raghavendra (Shimoga) 50.58 per cent, and H.D. Deve Gowda (hassan) 50.64 per cent.
Giant-killer

In his debut in national politics, Mr. Raghavendra has been a giant-killer having defeated the former Chief Minister S. Bangarappa, who polled 45.04 per cent of the votes.

The remaining 12 candidates in Shimoga could not garner even 1 per cent of the votes each barring an independent M.P. Sridhar (1.14 per cent).

What should be a cause of concern to the Congress in particular is the steady drop in its vote share with every passing election compared to the BJP which has grown with every election.

The BJP’s vote share has increased from 27.18 per cent (25 seats contested) in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections to 34.77 per cent (28 seats contested ) in 2004 and 42.33 per cent (28 seats contested) in 2009. The vote share of the Congress has decreased from 45.41 per cent in 1999 to 37.92 per cent in 2009.