Karnataka Assembly elections: Finding balance in the juggling act

PM's appeal, Congress' survival, JD(S)'s relevance at stake in an election that is as much about govt formation in Karnataka and political power as it is about succession planning in different parties

With just over a month for elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, all parties are refining election strategies, promises, caste alliances, and issue-framing.

The last Assembly election in Karnataka was held in May 2018, which resulted in a hung Assembly. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single-largest party with 104 seats but fell short of a majority. The Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), formed a post-poll coalition with 80 and 37 seats, respectively, and formed the government with Haradanahalli Deve Gowda Kumaraswamy as chief minister (CM). However, in July 2019, the coalition collapsed after several Members