Considering the new-found love of people across the country for regional parties, some senior leaders of the state from different parties are considering the idea of floating a new regional party ahead of the Assembly polls in 2013. Sources close to these leaders claimed that if things go as per schedule, the regional outfit would be named Karnataka Janata Party (KJP) and would take shape in the next three months. A Delhi-based market research organisation has been entrusted the task of conducting a survey to gauge the prospects of the proposed outfit in a state where the electorate is divided among the major parties— Congress, BJP and JD(S). As for the names of the leaders planning to launch the party, the sources preferred to keep them under wraps.
A preliminary survey has already been completed while the second stage of the survey is under way in the 224 Assembly constituencies, said sources. The mandate given to the market research organisation is a bit confusing with some sources saying it is intended to check the popularity of senior leaders from the BJP and Congress.
Community leaders who would be backing the outfit, also figure in the survey. “It looks like a study of the voting preferences of various communities, when the state goes to polls early next year. The focus is on the polarisation of the dominant Lingayat community and the backward class community and which way they will swing,’’ the sources said.
It’s not only Lingayat dominated north Karnataka, regions like Old-Mysore, Malnad and the coastal districts too figure prominently in the survey. The possibility of voters shifting their preference from major political parties to the new regional outfit is a subject of the study.
The findings of the preliminary survey should come as a pleasant surprise for leaders of the opposition parties. It could also come as a shock to those who were predicting a hung assembly, if elections were held right now. The prospects of the ruling BJP look pretty grim while the opposition Congress and JD(S) seem to be set to make a strong comeback, despite their internal problems. “The survey does not suggest the possibility of a hung assembly with the major parties set for a fierce fight in over 180 constituencies. A swing of two or three per cent votes could decide the fate of these parties and which of them will ultimately come to power. Even a ‘dummy independent’ candidate who bags less than 1000 votes, could play a decisive role in this poll,’’ the sources claimed quoting the survey. They added that it was too early to comment if the new outfit stood a chance of coming to power even if it is led by bigwigs of major parties.