BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa was circumspect after his party's resounding defeat in the state assembly elections. The Lingayat strongman, speaking after CM Basavaraj Bommai conceded BJP's defeat, said it's time for the party to reflect upon the disappointing result and introspect, leading into the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Yediyurappa told reporters that victory and defeat aren't new to BJP. "Party workers need not be panicked by these results. We will introspect about the party's setback. I respectfully accept this verdict."

Yediyurappa also dismissed suggestions that he had not campaigned wholeheartedly for the party in the state.

"Victory and defeat aren't new to BJP. Party workers need not be panicked by these results. We will introspect about the party's setback. I respectfully accept this verdict," says BJP leader BS Yediyurappa on the party's defeat in #KarnatakaElectionResults pic.twitter.com/LYudJZGIcL

— ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

Congress, as per trends posted by the Election Commission of India at 3.40 pm on Saturday, has won 71 seats and leading in 65 others. This will likely result in one of the biggest victories in Karnataka for Congress in decades and also allow it to form a single-party state government — the state has 224 assembly seats, with 113 needed for a simple majority.

The role of caste and religion in the results

The run-up to the election was marked by identity politics — In March, the BJP-led government had scrapped the 4 percent Muslim quota in the state, triggering a political slugfest, and re-apportioned equally to the Lingayats and Vokkaligas — the two powerful dominant communities of Karnataka.

Besides this, the government also decided to accord internal reservation to the Scheduled Castes by increasing the quota for SCs from 15 percent to 17 percent.

While the new reservation policy was welcomed by Lingayats and a section of the Dalits, it has drawn the ire of the Vokkaliga, Muslim, and Banjara communities — spelling trouble for the BJP. The Lingayat community accounts for 67 of the 224 seats, the Vokkaligas 44, OBCs 24, and Muslims 18.

As per analysis by Todays Chanakya, pre-election, the Lingayat community was leaning towards the BJP, while the Muslim community was overwhelmingly in support of Congress.

In the 2013 elections, Yediyurappa had left the BJP and contested the elections from his own party. The result was that the Lingayat vote was split, ushering in a victory for Congress.

This time around, Yediyurappa, who had since rejoined the BJP, became chief minister and subsequently resigned, is said to have not thrown his full might into campaigning for the party, as it was clear that he was not going to be the CM face of the party, which had contested the elections under the leadership of current CM Basavaraj Bommai. This may have also weaned some votes away from BJP.

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