05-25-2008, 08:46 PM
Congress Defeat<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->As if losing Karnataka was not bad enough, the Congress was trounced in the Lok Sabha seats of Thane in Maharashtra (by Shiv Sena), Tura in Meghalaya (by Nationalist Congress Party) and Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh (by BJP). In Punjab, the ruling Akali Dal won the Amritsar-south assembly seat. In Haryana, the Congress won two of the three assembly by-elections but failed to prevent former chief minister Bhajan Lal, its former leader, from winning the Adampur seat for the 10th consecutive time.
But it was the failure to regain power in Karnataka and, worse, the loss of its former bastion to the BJP in a decisive way that stunned the Congress. One leader frankly admitted he had no idea what had gone wrong while another, speaking off the record, said party president Sonia Gandhi too was to blame for the mess in Karnataka.
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A Hindu nationalist who began his political career as an activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at the age of 23, Yediyurappa is not without his enemies in his party. Friends say that he often visits temples and mutts seeking blessings. He also consults astrologers frequently.
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And BJP president Rajnath Singh claimed separately that the Karnataka victory had made his party the front-runner for the next Lok Sabha battle. "It is a major milestone in BJP's history."
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi went a step ahead and said the Karnataka outcome would mark the beginning of the end for the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). "This is the first time the BJP has got a clear mandate on its own in a southern state."
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<b>While the BJP won 16 of 21 seats in Bangalore city, India's IT hub, several Congress stalwarts lost. This included former Congress chief minister N. Dharam Singh, who failed to make it to the assembly for the 10th time in a row, losing by just 77 votes.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
But it was the failure to regain power in Karnataka and, worse, the loss of its former bastion to the BJP in a decisive way that stunned the Congress. One leader frankly admitted he had no idea what had gone wrong while another, speaking off the record, said party president Sonia Gandhi too was to blame for the mess in Karnataka.
.....
A Hindu nationalist who began his political career as an activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at the age of 23, Yediyurappa is not without his enemies in his party. Friends say that he often visits temples and mutts seeking blessings. He also consults astrologers frequently.
...
And BJP president Rajnath Singh claimed separately that the Karnataka victory had made his party the front-runner for the next Lok Sabha battle. "It is a major milestone in BJP's history."
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi went a step ahead and said the Karnataka outcome would mark the beginning of the end for the ruling Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). "This is the first time the BJP has got a clear mandate on its own in a southern state."
....
<b>While the BJP won 16 of 21 seats in Bangalore city, India's IT hub, several Congress stalwarts lost. This included former Congress chief minister N. Dharam Singh, who failed to make it to the assembly for the 10th time in a row, losing by just 77 votes.</b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->