Karnataka election results 2019: Congress old guard meets with big defeats

The massive verdict in favour of BJP has come as a rude shock for the Karnataka Congress, with three of its stalwarts, including leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, former Union ministers K H Muniyappa and M Veerappa Moily, biting the dust on Thursday.
Adding to this, the defeat of former PM H D Deve Gowda has also resulted in a huge upset for the ruling coalition. The defeat of the big three Congress leaders in the state also created a vacuum for the party at the national level, with only one representative from the state — D K Suresh, who won from Bengaluru Rural.
The biggest face loss for Congress has come in the form of Kharge’s defeat, as he was the party’s opposition leader and was pegged to be the senior-most central leader from Karnataka.With this, Kharge has lost the sobriquet ‘solillada sardara’ (chieftain who has never lost).
Attributed primarily to his decision to promote his son and social welfare department minister Priyank, Kharge Sr was at the receiving end from the beginning. An anti-Kharge force banding in BJP and spearheaded by his protégé, Umesh Jadhav, proved costly to Kharge.
The defeat for Muniyappa, the seven-time MP from Kolar, is being attributed to the anti-incumbency factor coupled with local Congress-JD(S) leaders working against him and ensuring his defeat. Muniyappa’s defeat at the hands of a BJP corporator from Kadugodi ward of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike suggests that he became a victim of a largescale conspiracy within and outside the party.
Moily suffered defeat despite having won twice from Chikkaballapura. Coupled with the anti-incumbency, Moily being considered ‘an outsider’ and his failure to bring drinking water to Chikkaballapura, contributed heavily against him and in favour of his opponent, B N Bacche Gowda.
The biggest upset in the state came by way of Gowda’s defeat in Tumakuru. Having faced stiff opposition from Congress local leaders prior to filing his nominations, the JD(S) supremo was banking heavily on deputy chief minister G Parameshwara and his own local MLAs to ensure his victory. But that never came through.