While the Congress can form the government comfortably for the next five years, this victory itself cannot be construed as the defeat of communalism or of the BJP.
There will be chatter in coming days about why the Congress won, and many are already pointing to a large-scale shift of the “Lingayat vote” from the BJP.
Karnataka Election Results: Out of the 69 Lingayats fielded by the BJP, only 15 secured victory. The community, which has traditionally backed the saffron party, supported the Congress this time. This disenchantment was long in the making
Even as former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who switched to Congress ahead of the assembly polls in Karnataka, lost to the BJP's Mahesh Tenginkai by a huge margin, both the leaders jointly got 97 per cent votes from Hubli-Dharwad Central .