BJP, Congress, JDS all face the same dilemma: Cosset their caste base or woo new social groups
Over the last three decades, Karnataka has been frozen in a familiar pattern of tripolar competition – upper castes and Lingayats for BJP, Vokkaligas for JDS, and Dalits and Muslims (along with a faction of OBCs) for Congress. No incumbent has returned to office, and no government (except Congress in 2013) has won a full majority.
Can the first post-Yediyurappa (and in some sense post-Deve Gowda) state election signal the carving out of new political spaces and a consequent remaking of the political battlefield?
Can the first post-Yediyurappa (and in some sense post-Deve Gowda) state election signal the carving out of new political spaces and a consequent remaking of the political battlefield?