In setback to Modi-led BJP
\nKarnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh who imposed Hijab ban has lost elections from Tiptur constituency
\nBengaluru
\nIn a major blow to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition Congress party secured victory in the Karnataka state election.
\nThe BJP has been ousted from office in Karnataka, the only southern state controlled by the Hindu nationalist grouping, a year ahead of national polls. The results of the Karnataka Assembly polls, which took place on May 10, show Congress leading in 122 of the 224 seats and BJP leading in 71 others, The Indian Express reported Saturday.
\nCongress leaders like DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Priyank Kharge, Laxman Savadi and Satish Jarkiholi are among the early winners in the state.
\nIn its first official reaction to the Karnataka Assembly results, Congress said PM Modi had \u201clost\u201d as the BJP had declared its election campaign \u201ca referendum\u201d on the PM.
\nKarnataka has a population of well over 60 million people \u2014 about the same as Britain \u2014 and its capital Bengaluru is India\u2019s tech hub.
\nBJP state leader BS Yediyurappa \u2014 a former chief minister \u2014 conceded defeat. \u201cVictory and defeat aren\u2019t new to BJP,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cWe will introspect about the party\u2019s setback. I respectfully accept this verdict.\u201d
\nThe party had mounted a major campaign in the state with PM Modi himself visiting to promote its muscular brand of Hindu politics.
\nAt one of his rallies, Modi praised an incendiary new film that wildly exaggerates the number of Hindu women converting to Islam and joining the Daesh militant group.
\nModi \u2014 who is widely expected to stand again in the 2024 general election \u2014 also attempted to woo Hindu voters by chanting an ode to the monkey god Hanuman.
\nCongress campaigned hard on secularism, giveaways of electricity and rice for the poor, and accusations of BJP corruption.
\n\u201cThe marketplace of hatred has been shut down,\u201d Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told reporters at party headquarters in Delhi.
\n\u2018Man behind Hijab ban loses\u2019
\nMeanwhile, Karnataka Education Minister and BJP leader BC Nagesh, who imposed the Hijab ban in the state\u2019s educational institutes and urged an economic boycott of Muslims in the state, has lost the elections from the Tiptur constituency, according to Maktoob media report.
\nNagesh was among the several senior leaders of the Hindutva party who lost the polls.
\nBJP candidate Nagesh won in 2008 and 2018 from this constituency while Congress\u2019 Shadakshari won and became a lawmaker from this constituency in 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In setback to Modi-led BJP Karnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh who imposed Hijab ban has lost elections from Tiptur constituency Bengaluru In a major blow to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition Congress party secured victory in the Karnataka state election. The BJP has been ousted from office in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331047,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-331037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n