Lucky in Its Adversaries

The Congress Party won a majority of seats in Karnataka in May despite a poor campaign, because of the rival parties' weaknesses. Dynastic preoccupations within the Janata Dal (Secular) had narrowed its appeal and its social base. More crucially, the BJP government since 2008 had performed ineffectively and had appeared callously uncaring - and the BJP then suffered an unseemly split. Those problems can be traced to the autocratic narcissism and ineptitude of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. The Congress thus owes a great debt to its adversaries. This election also revealed colossal misperceptions of political realities in Karnataka by the national leaders of both the Congress and the BJP.