Bengaluru: After a gruelling campaign which saw the three major parties -BJP, Congress and JD(S) - bring up several issues including the non-performance of the B.S. Yediyurappa government and its failure to tackle the devastating floods, 15 assembly constituencies in the state will go to polls on Thursday with 37.78 lakh voters eligible to exercise their franchise.
The ruling BJP will have to win at least seven of the 15 to ensure a majority in the 225-member assembly (including the Speaker, who has a casting vote) with two seats- Maski and RR Nagar still vacant. The ruling party is brimming with confidence and is hoping to win at least 10 of the 15 to ensure a comfortable majority in the Assembly.
If it fails to win enough seats, there is a strong possibility of the Opposition Congress and JD(S) coming together again to revive their now defunct coalition to bring down the Yediyurappa government with veteran Congressman Mallikarjun Kharge and JD(S) supremo Deve Gowda reportedly having already held talks on the subject.
The collapse of the Yediyurappa government is the last thing the BJP central leadership would want after the embarrassment it had to face in Maharashtra where it was virtually outwitted by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combine. Adding to its worries, source say it`s not going to be an easy run for disqualified MLA and the mastermind of the operation which brought down the H.D. Kumaraswamy government-Ramesh Jarkiholi- in Gokak where his brother Lakhan Jarkiholi is the Congress candidate.
