Devegowdas were Congress’ honourable guests until 2 days back

Karnataka congress: Someone said rightly, people change with time. Only a couple of days back, despite exit polls mostly favouring the Congress, reports of party leaders meeting the JDS high command secretly emerged on all kinds of media. However, after the elections, now Congress is being projected as the frontrunner for the Central Government in 2024. What changed?

Let’s look into the sudden change in the attitude of Congress, and why this might be a real blessing in disguise.

The insecurity that runs deep

Someone said, “truth is stranger than fiction”. Probably, they forgot to add politics to it. Only a couple of days back, despite exit polls being in their favour, the Congress was feeling more restless than even the ruling party BJP.

Secret meetings had been apparently arranged between JDS and Congress, in order to make a repeat of 2018, where despite having lesser seats than BJP, both the parties struck back to power. Though both officially denied the same, the fear was real.

Also read: Karnataka election results: Time for some serious introspection for BJP

Goodbye to Opposition Unity?

However, with the results proving otherwise, a new kind of confidence has emerged in the Congress. While it’s true that they fought tooth and nail for every seat, and probably even deserve some of the praises being showered, the Karnataka victory is being projected as if 2024 elections are just one step away.

Nope, we’re not kidding. If we keep Rajdeep’s overtures aside, almost every other media channel is claiming as if Congress will bulldoze everyone aside, be it MP, or Chhattisgarh, or even Rajasthan and Telangana for that matter. Unless they realize something that we don’t, optimism is one thing, and bending head over heels for a political dispensation is another thing altogether. Wonder if Godi media was actually made for such organizations.

How is this possible? Following the thumping victory, there has been no conversation between the two factions. Moreover, with the drubbing JDS has faced, it is almost certain that the party is to Karnataka what Samajwadi Party is to Uttar Pradesh, especially after the recent drubbing in the Uttar Pradesh municipal elections.

However, this is also in a way a blessing in disguise. How come? Because the moment Congress develops a superiority complex, it means that it won’t be submissive in the run-up to the 2024 elections. The last time Congress had been remotely submissive was in 1996 elections, when they acted as second fiddle, just to keep BJP out of power.

Also read: 2 states, 2 elections and why UP’s resounding message truly matters!

However, with Rahul Gandhi at the helm of affairs, and almost everyone kowtowing to the Gandhi Vadra family, it is unlikely that the scion would even think of attempting the same. Moreover, even though they might not accept it, uninvited guests like SP and JDU, of whom the JDU supremo Nitish Kumar is still harbouring dreams of becoming the PM of another Third Front, he’ll be in for a rude shock post the Karnataka elections, since the last thing the ‘Grand Old Party’ would afford is to appear as submissive, and for all his flaws, the one thing Rahul Gandhi is good at is not to succumb to anyone’s wishes, even if it annihilates his own party.