Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, 2008

The Karnataka Legislative Assembly election of 2008 took place in 3 phases on May 10, May 16 and May 22 2008 in 224 constituencies in Karnataka, India. The elections were conducted to elect the government in the state of Karnataka for the next five years. The votes were counted on May 25 2008 and thanks to the electronic voting machines, all the results were out by the afternoon itself. The Bharatiya Janata Party won the election, losing out on the majority by only 3 seats and its state leader, B.S. Yeddyurappa was sworn in as Chief Minister, with the support of 6 independents. It was the 1^st time the BJP came to power on its own in Karnataka and South India.cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7419782.stm | title = BJP wins Karnataka assembly polls | accessdate = 2008-06-04 | date = 2008-05-26| publisher = "BBC Online"] cite web| url = http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?id=04d8f8f7-26fd-48b3-b536-a0cc2440bc3cKarnatakavotes_Special&MatchID1=4698&TeamID1=2&TeamID2=5&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1185&PrimaryID=4698&Headline=BJP+set+to+form+government+in+Karnataka | title = BJP creates history in Karnataka, Congress humbled all over | accessdate = 2008-06-05 | date = 2008-05-25| publisher = "Hindustan Times"]

Background

In the 2004 Karnataka elections the BJP emerged as the largest party with 79 of the 224 seats. However the Indian National Congress with 64 members and the Janata Dal (Secular) with 58 members formed a coalition to run the government for the next 20 months as the BJP failed to get an absolute majority. However in early 2006, the JD(S) withdrew its support for the government and instead formed an alliance with the BJP with H. D. Kumaraswamy of JD(S) as the chief minister.cite web| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4676612.stm | title = BJP makes southern Indian debut | accessdate = 2008-06-04 | date = 2006-02-03| publisher = "BBC Online"]

The alliance between the BJP and the JD(S) collapsed in October 2007 after H.D. Deve Gowda of the JD(S) refused to let Yeddyurappa take over as chief minister as had been agreed in 2006. They briefly reformed a government, with the BJP at the head, in November 2007 but it quickly collapsed due to disagreements over power sharing. As a result new elections were called from May 2008.

Campaign

The election was the first in India to vote after electoral constituencies had been redrawn based on new population data. Voting took place in three different phases on 10, 16 and 22 May.

The BJP campaigned on the high rate of inflation and criticised the national United Progressive Alliance government for being soft on terrorism. The party called on voters to give the party a chance in Karnataka and was successful in attracting millionaire candidates to stand for the party. The Congress party pledged to reign in prices, improve the infrastructure of the state and provide stable government.cite web| url = http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hHw3ngV7IcQtcWIGUZG20wtUnaGQ | title = India's software state votes in high-stakes election | accessdate = 2008-06-05 | date = 2008-05-09| publisher = "Agence France-Presse"]

Results

Aftermath

Although the BJP fell three seats short of getting an overall majority B. S. Yeddyurappa was able to become chief minister after winning the support of six independent members of the assembly. He was sworn in as chief minister on 30 May 2008 at the head of a 30 strong cabinet, which included five of the six independents who had agreed to back the BJP.cite web| url = http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Yeddy_swears_by_a_please-all_cabinet/articleshow/3087255.cms | title = Yeddy swears by a please-all cabinet | accessdate = 2008-06-04 | date = 2008-05-31| publisher = "The Economic Times"] Jagdish Shettar was elected speaker on 5 June and a vote of confidence was passed by voice vote on 6 June after the opposition walked out.cite web| url = http://newspostindia.com/report-59036 | title = Karnataka BJP Government To Seek Trust-vote Friday | accessdate = 2008-06-05 | date = 2008-06-05| publisher = "News Post India"] cite web| url = http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=eb3366a1-38dc-4f8d-bd25-1ad9f0d547ab&MatchID1=4698&TeamID1=2&TeamID2=5&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1185&PrimaryID=4698&Headline=BJP+Govt+wins+trust+vote+in+Karnataka | title = BJP Govt wins trust vote in Karnataka | accessdate = 2008-06-08 | date = 2008-06-07| publisher = "Hindustan Times"]

References

External links

* [http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/karnataka/constituencydetail.aspx Karnataka constituency results]