By the end of Thursday, the murmurs of discontent among party workers that had followed many coalition candidates in their constituencies became apparent — it had been every candidate for him/herself this Lok Sabha election in Karnataka.
Vote transfer between the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) failed spectacularly, and the votes secured by the coalition candidates seem to reflect only their respective parties. In 15 of the State’s 28 constituencies, the coalition candidate got considerably fewer votes than the combined votes polled by the two parties in 2014.
Through the Lok Sabha poll campaign, the alliance had hoped for a consolidation of votes. Its rallies were primarily about the joint electoral effort this time. After all, if the vote share had followed the 2014 pattern, the alliance would have won 13 seats, up by two from 2014. If it had followed the pattern of the 2018 Assembly elections, the alliance would have won a staggering 21 seats. The final tally of two seats shows that the alliance arithmetic fell flat on its face.