Karnataka: Pre-poll survey pegs a Congress win with 120-132 seats
What's the story
A survey conducted by C Fore has predicted a Congress win in Karnataka with 120-132 seats. According to its predictions, BJP will get 60-72 seats, and JD(S) 24-30.
The research organization surveyed 24,676 voters across 165 constituencies between July 19 and August 10.
The Congress is desperate for wins amid a growing saffron wave across India.
Strategy
Congress has picked these as its major poll issues
Congress is fighting the anti-incumbency factor in Karnataka, the only major state where it has retained power.
CM Siddarmaiah has picked up four issues for the battle: separate religion status for Lingayats, the Centre's alleged imposition of Hindi on Karnataka, a separate flag for the state akin to Kashmir, and the Mahadayi river water dispute between Karnataka and Goa.
Information
To attract voters, Congress' populist schemes
In a bid to attract its vote base of backward castes, dalits, the Congress-led Karnataka government has unveiled many populist schemes such as the Bhagya schemes (free food grains, meals etc), Indira canteens (subsidized fast-food joints), and free laptops, among other related schemes.
JD(S)
Meanwhile, JD(S) MLAs defecting to Congress
In the upcoming elections, JD(S) aims to play kingmaker between the two national parties.
In this light, seven JD(S) MLAs deciding to move to the Karnataka Congress, due to disagreements with Deve Gowda and his son HD Kumaraswamy, are bound to hurt.
This fall-out occurred after they went against their party and voted for the NDA candidate during the Presidential elections.
BJP
BJP's goal in Karnataka: Mission 150
BJP's plan is to win 150 of the 224 seats in the 2018 Assembly polls, with the larger goal being the 2019 general elections.
Considering Karnataka as BJP's entry point to the south, Amit Shah announced B.S. Yeddyurappa (BSY) as the CM candidate.
The party aims to consolidate its base by wooing the two dominant communities in the state: the Lingayats and Vokkaligas.