The two principal opposition political parties, Bharatiya Janata Party (43 seats) and Janta Dal (S) (29 seats), along with their allies, will take on the presently ruling Congress (122 seats) government. Aam Aadmi Party will mark its debut in Karnataka.
Let's analyse how important Karnataka assembly election is for each of these parties.
Congress
The politics of Karnataka is dominated by three major political parties, the Congress, the Janata Dal (Secular) and BJP. The grand old party (Congress) is in power in the state since May 2013.
On 5 May 2013, last state assembly election took place. INC under the leadership of Siddaramaiah won the election with an absolute majority of 122 seats (9 more than the majority mark of 113).
As a result, the Congress returned to power on its own after nine years.
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Presently, Karnataka is one of the two big states Congress has and saving the same is obviously of paramount importance for the party.
Losing the state will going to be a big jolt for the party before the 2019 General elections.
Most of the opinion polls are showing Congress in a better position than BJP but how accurate they are we all come to know on May 15.
BJP
BJP, in 2008, won 110 seats, under the leadership of B. S. Yeddyurappa, a powerful Lingayat leader. It emerged as the single largest party but failed to win 113+ seats so it had to form a government with the support of a few independent MLA's.
The year was important for BJP as for the first time ever in South India it came to power. But, the five years were not smooth and was mired in many controversies like the land scam. In its five years of rule, the BJP had three Chief Ministers.
However, that was the past. Now, BJP under PM Narendra Modi is at its peak.
A win in Karnataka will give a big boost to the saffron party before the 2019 General elections. The anti-incumbency may also give party a helping hand.
AAP
Aam Aadmi Party will try its luck for the first time in Karnataka. The miracle which it showed during 2015 Delhi assembly election was the one of its kind. But the party failed to repeat the same elsewhere in the country.
Though AAP had contested in the 2014 general elections, it was able to garner just about 0.8% vote share in the state. The party is confident of putting up a good show in the state election.
Performing well in this election will going to be a big boost for the party.
Role of Lingayat in the Karnataka assembly election
On March 23, barely two months before the poll, the state government's welfare department notified the minority religion status to Lingayat followers. However, BJP's national President Amit Shah termed it appeasement police.
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Since then meetings with Lingayat seers (by Congress and BJP leaders) have become the order of the day. These meetings with the Lingayat seers are being seen as an attempt to reach out to theLingayats/Veeshaivas, who are numerically and politically powerful in the state and form a major voter base.
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