Congress(I) Victory in the South-Reaction to Frustrated Federal Ambitions

Reaction to Frustrated Federal Ambitions THE Congress(I)'s sweep of the Lok Sabha elections in south India when it was routed in atl other regions of the country except in the micro states of north east and in Maharashtra where it made just a face saving performance is generally attributed either to a vote for change against the respective state governments or to a vote for stability. Success in any election is the result of multiple factors and to that extent the antipathy of south Indian voters to their respective state governments is reflected in their verdict. But what is noteworthy here is the near-total rejection of state rulers in all four southern states with little variation amongst them. In Tamil Nadu the DMK ended up without any seat. The CPI its alliance partner got one seat. In Karnataka the Janata Dal succeeded in just a single seat. The Tblugu Desam, the major opposition party in the eighth Lok Sabha was reduced to just two seats and in Kerala the LDF managed only three seats. In Karnataka and Andhra the JD and Telugu Desam respectively failed to retain their state assembly majorities. Such a total rout of all the south Indian ruling parties indicates that there was an over all voting pattern in the south in favour of the Congress(I) in the Lok Sabha elections, which perhaps influenced the two simultaneously held assembly polls. If there was no pro-Congress(I) ground swell all over the south, the voting pattern would have shown greater state-wise variation in tune with the degree of alleged corruption or inefficiency of the respective state governments.