Parliament recaptures BJP’s only South Indian state in election campaign focused on local issues

Parliament is due to elect a prime minister by Monday.

Among the top two candidates is Shivakumar, a key strategist in the election and one of the wealthiest leaders in the parliament of Vocaligas, an influential land-owning community.

In 2019, he was sentenced to 50 days in prison pending bail for money laundering and income tax evasion charges.

He alleges that the “unfounded and politically motivated” accusations were brought about by order of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Karnataka.

Another candidate is Sidaramaire, 75, who held the position from 2013 to 2018.

An after-the-fact poll by the Center for Social Development Studies found him to be the most popular prime minister.

Leaders of the marginalized Kurba community are known for their policies to lift poor and backward castes and their understanding of the agricultural economy.

He was also a rationalist and long wanted to outlaw superstitions and discriminatory practices.

Some 73 percent of Karnataka’s 53 million voters turned out on May 10, the highest turnout in the state’s history.

In the last election five years ago, no party won a simple majority.

The National Congress and the Janata Dal (secular) regional party formed a short-lived and unstable coalition. However, 18 months later, a large number of MPs defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party, which formed a government.

The BJP maintained its 36% share of the popular vote since the last election, but failed to win a constituency beyond its home base.