Karnataka has a long history of caste empowerment. The ideological stream of Lohiaite socialism was adapted and merged into the legacy of Devaraj Urs, which influenced the Congress to position itself as a proponent of social justice politics in the state. The BJP leadership’s attempt to plug in the state party to its national grid, where energy is generated from anti-Muslim agendas and hyper-nationalism, does not seem to have appealed to the Karnataka voter.