05-27-2008, 11:27 AM
Smaller parties draw a blank in the elections
Staff Reporter
Janata Dal (United) could not open its account this time
Fringe and smaller parties played a crucial role
BANGALORE: With the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) winning a lionâs share of the 224 seats in the State Assembly, smaller parties such as the Janata Dal (United), Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Lok Paritran, Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha and even the Maharashtra Ekikarana Samithi (MES) failed to win even a seat.
Surprisingly, the Janata Dal (United) that had eight seats in the previous Assembly could not open its account this time.
Its president, B. Somashekar, who contested from Malavalli, lost too.
In Shimoga, the Samajwadi Party not only failed to make any headway, but also had to face the ignonimity of seeing its State unit president S. Bangarappa losing out to the BJPâs chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa.
While the Samajwadi Party had fielded its candidates in over 100 seats, the BSP had fielded its candidates in over 200 seats. However, both drew a blank.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also lost the lone seat that it had held in the previous Assembly, as itâs nominee Sriram Reddy lost to Congress candidate N. Sampangi in Bagepalli.The Lok Paritran, which had fielded educated candidates â most of whom were engineers and mostly in Bangalore â could make no dent on the electoral fortunes.
Almost all their candidates, finished behind those representing the major parties, and many of them even lost their deposit.
In Belgaum, the MES, which held three seats in the previous Assembly, not only failed to retain them but did not register any win in the district, which it considers its bastion.
Once the hub of pro-Marathi movement, the MES now seems to have lost the steam. Political analysts say the holding of an Assembly session by the H.D Kumaraswamy-led government in Belgaum and its decision to make it the second capital swayed people away from the faction-ridden MES.
Vatal loses
Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha leader Vatal Nagaraj, who was a member of last Assembly, lost his deposit in Chamarajnagar and all his candidates too faced a similar fate.
If in a majority of the constituencies that went to elections, it was a straight fight between the three leading parties, in several other constituencies the fringe and smaller parties played a crucial role.
Though their candidates did not win, the votes they polled led to the defeat of candidates belonging to leading political parties. --
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Congress fails to convert high vote percentage to seats
Nagesh Prabhu
Party emerges runner-up in 116 segments
BANGALORE: Though the Bharatiya Janata Party polled a lesser percentage of votes than the Congress in the Legislative Assembly elections, it still emerged the largest party in the 224-member Lower House by bagging 110 seats.
The Congress candidates emerged as runner-up in 116 constituencies and the BJP candidates in 58.
The Janata Dal (Secular) nominees stood second in 39 constituencies.
In the 2004 Legislative Assembly elections also, the BJP had polled a lesser percentage of votes than the Congress but had still won the highest number of seats (79). The Congress bagged 65 seats in 2004.
In the just concluded elections, the BJPâs vote percentage has increased to 33.86 from 28.49 in 2004, an increase of 5.37.
Over five per cent swing in favour of the BJP helped it get an additional 31 seats and the party is all set to form its first government in the South with the support of independents.
The Congress polled 34.59 per cent votes and secured 80 seats.
The party has obtained 15 more seats despite a 0.69 per cent decline in its vote-share. In 2004, the Congress got 35.28 per cent votes.
The Janata Dal (Secular) has polled 19.11 per cent of votes against 20.59 per cent in 2004, a decline of 1.48 per cent. The seat share of the party also declined sharply from 58 in 2004 to 28 in 2008.
Poor show by JD(U)
The voting percentage of the Janata Dal (United) declined significantly in the 2008 elections. The party, which had won five seats in 2004, failed to secure even a single seat this time. The party received just 0.32 per cent of the votes in 2008 against 2.08 per cent in 2004.
The Janata Dal (United) stood fourth in terms of voting percentage in 2004, sources at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer told The Hindu.
The Congress polled 90.48 lakh votes, the BJP 88.57 lakh, Janata Dal (Secular) 50 lakh and the Bahujan Samaj Party 18.08 lakh votes in the State in the three-phase polling.
As many as 27 political parties had secured less than one per cent of votes in the 2008 elections. More than 2.61 crore voters exercised their franchise.
Independents
The vote share of independent candidates increased marginally from 6.89 per cent in 2004 to 6.91 per cent in 2008. Six independents won the elections this time against 13 in 2004.
The Bahujan Samaj Party received 2.74 per cent of votes (1.75 per cent in 2004) while the Samajwadi Party bagged 0.93 per cent of votes polled in 2008.
Runner-up candidates
With regard to runner-up candidates in the Assembly elections, the Congress candidates stood second in 116 constituencies followed by BJP (58), Janata Dal-Secular, (39), independents (5), BSP (2), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Republic Party of India, Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha and SP in one constituency each.
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