It also means that polarisation at the state level is complete, while at the Central level it is yet to fully happen. At the Centre, both the Congress and the BJP have to depend on unreliable allies and unprincipled alliances.

The late President R Venkataraman in his book My Presidential Years had predicted that with the weakening of the Congress, an era of coalition at the centre has begun and it may continue for a few decades till two equally powerful parties, capable of replacing each other, emerge. At the initial stage, the BJP had shown signs of emerging as a viable alternative to the Congress, but it then got mired in communal and parochial politics.

With the drubbing it received in the Karnataka assembly election, the BJP ceased to exit south of Vindhyas and remained a party, confined to north India only. The BJP should seriously consider projecting itself as a true nationalist and secular party, encompassing people belonging to all religions. It has acquired the image of an extremist Hindutva party. Look how Muslims and, even non-Muslims, unite against the BJP the moment they hear Narendra Modi’s name, tainted with Gujarat riots and massacre of Muslims.

For five years, the BJP wrestled with its own internal problems, spending more time on survival than on governance. After having come to power in the southern state as a viable alternative to the Congress, the BJP got everything wrong within a few months of the 2008 election. The party appeared beholden to the Bellary mining lobby, and Yeddyurappa was left with difficult task of holding his flocks together in the face of inducements from factions within his own party.

Let us see the recent election trends. In Uttar Pradesh, two equally powerful parties—BSP, led by Mayawati and Samajwadi Party, led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, won two successive elections; people voted either for Mayawati’s party or for the SP.

Down south in Tamil Nadu it is either Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK or Karunanidhi-led DMK. In last assembly election, Jayalalithaa wiped out the DMK. In West Bengal, it was a real surprise when Mamata Banerjee, edged out as firmly entrenched a party as the CPI-M. Doubtless, people want one-party rule and want the party they vote in to deliver. It appears that Mamata has been failing in this count and this may pave the way for return of the Marxists.

In Bihar, Nitish Kumar has emerged as a force to reckon with. In the last election, he romped home with a comfortable majority. In Himachal Pradesh, the Congress replaced the BJP and in Punjab Akalis won for the second time.

Though there is reason for the Congress leaders to be happy at their victory in Karnataka, they should not gloat over it too much. All that the BJP was trying to do against the Congress at the Centre, the Congress did successfully against the BJP in Karnataka. Corruption, nepotism, non-governance, inefficiency, and instability all constituted the campaign theme. For this very reason, the Congress might have more lessons to learn from its victory than the BJP from its defeat.

If the Karnataka assembly election is a pointer to national mood, it is a verdict against national mood; it is a verdict against corruption and non-governance, not an endorsement of the Congress and many scams that have unfolded under the watch of the UPA government. Now, that the Congress has got a clear mandate from the people, their expectations have also soared high. Karnataka badly needs a good administration that can reign in corruption and revitalise development. Long-term thinking on infrastructure and comprehensive development plan for Bangalore need to be a vital part of the new government’s agenda. In Bangalore, young, educated voters turned up in unprecedented numbers to vote, as the latest voter tally shows. The city is in dire need of a rejuvenated plan.

With the resounding victory in the assembly elections, the Congress has got another chance to prove its popularity soon enough, as the Lok Sabha elections are due exactly in a year’s time. That should be reason enough for the Congress to pull out all stops to provide good governance in Karnataka in the hope that it will provide much-needed momentum to smoothly transform not just the Karnataka unit, but also the national party, through the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Peoples’ expectations are sky high. The Congress government in the state has no option but to provide an effective, clean and efficient administration.(IPA Service)