Karnataka election results 2018: BJP seen cruising to majority on its own
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is cruising towards a comfortable majority on its own, the trends so far suggest, opening what BJP President Amit Shah stressed was its gateway to the South. A clear verdict from Bengaluru has implications for the BJP's future prospects in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala. The mandate would eliminate the much-speculated role of the Janata Dal (Secular) as the kingmaker and put paid to the theories of a coalition government and the larger ramifications for central politics in Delhi. The trends so far seem to establish Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s position as the first among equals in the BJP and indeed the Sangh Parivar. A clear majority for the BJP will confirm Shah's skills as a poll strategist par excellence because it was the caste equation he formulated by coalescing the core support of the Lingayats with that of the Scheduled Tribes, other backward classes, Brahmins and sections of the Dalits that bro...