1. Congress is caught in a big crisis, being unable to decide between Siddaramaih and D K Shivakumar --after impressive win in Karnataka; Shivakumar camp is firm that he should be given the opportunity to head the government as he had revived the party organisation at a time when it was hit by defections and desertions. His supporters also pointed out that Shivakumar enjoyed the backing of powerful caste groups such as the Vokkaligas and Lingayats. They also argued that Siddaramaiah’s emphasis on personality-based politics did not make him a team player, and alleged that the supporters of the former Chief Minister had sabotaged the election of former KPCC chief G. Parameshwar from Koratagere in 2013. However, supporters of Siddaramaiah argued that he not only enjoyed the support of the majority of the newly elected MLAs but is also responsible for Congress’ mass outreach among AHINDAs, an acronym for the rainbow coalition of religious minorities, Other Backward Classes and Dalits.
2. In Rajasthan, young Sachin Pilot, then Congress chief in the state, was seen to have led the party to victory in 2018 but the Gandhis, as seen often, chose the old guard, in Ashok Gehlot, for the CM’s chair. It was a decision that has kept the Rajasthan Congress divided into two, though unequal, groups. Pilot mounted a mini-revolt against the party but couldn’t pull off his coup in 2021 because Gehlot had the numbers. However, Gehlot’s revolt in 2022 was by no means mini: he said a defiant no to becoming the Congress national president, a one-stone-two-birds ploy of the Gandhis aimed at clearing up Rajasthan for Pilot. A similar conundrum was seen in Punjab where Navjot Singh Sidhu, as state party chief, was leading the 2022 assembly election while his bªte noire, Amarinder Singh, was the CM. On the eve of the polls, the Congress played the Dalit card by making Charanjit Singh Channi the chief minister but the Amarinder-Sidhu and anti-incumbency mess was too much to be cleared by such last-minute gimmicks. The AAP won the border state, one more step toward replacing the grand old party as India's potent opposition force.
3. Will Karnataka set the political mood for 2024 Lok Sabha elections? The results of the Karnataka Assembly elections has given the much-needed momentum to the entire Opposition camp--not just the Congress but other parties who believe that the recent crushing defeat to the BJP juggernaut has proved that no citadel is completely impregnable and no leader is invincible.The fact of the matter is BJP did not do well in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in 2018 Assembly elections but it still swept the four states in 2019 Lok Sabha elections
#Karnataka #siddaramaiah #dkshivakumar #BJP #Congress #RajasthanElection #MadhyaPradeshElection #chattisgarhElection #Election2023 #SachinPilot #AshokGehlot #RahulGandhi #SoniaGandhi #PriyankaGandhi

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