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The 2008 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election took place in three phases on 10, 16 and 22 May 2008 in all the 224 assembly
constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
in
Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. The elections were conducted to elect a Government in the state of Karnataka for the next five years. The votes were counted on 25 May and due to the use of
electronic voting machines An electronic voting machine is a voting machine based on electronics. Two main technologies exist: '' optical scanning'' and '' direct recording'' (DRE). Optical scanning In an optical scan voting system, or marksense, each voter's choices ...
, all the results were out by the afternoon itself. The
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
emerged victorious winning 110 seats. Although the party fell short of a clear majority, it was able to form the government with the support of 6 independents. This was the first time BJP came to power on its own in Karnataka and any south Indian state.


Background

In the 2004 Karnataka elections, the BJP emerged as the single largest party winning 79 out of the 224 seats. However, the
Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
with 65 members and the
Janata Dal (Secular) The Janata Dal (Secular) is an Indian political party led by former prime minister of India, H. D. Deve Gowda. The party is recognized as a State Party in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. It was formed in July 1999 by the ...
with 58 members formed a coalition government with
Dharam Singh Dharam Narayan Singh (25 December 1936 – 27 July 2017) was an Indian senior congress politician who served as the 17th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 28 May 2004 to 28 January 2006 and Member of the Lok Sabha from Bidar Lok Sabha constitue ...
of the Congress as
Chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
. However, in early 2006, the JD(S) withdrew its support to the government and instead formed an alliance with the BJP and
H. D. Kumaraswamy Haradanahalli Deve Gowda Kumaraswamy, (born 16 December 1959) known among followers as Kumaranna (''Kumar, the elder brother''), is an Indian politician and businessman who served as the 18th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 23 May 2018 to 23 J ...
of the JD(S) became
Chief minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
. The arrangement was based on an agreement that Kumaraswamy would be the Chief Minister for the first 20 months and B.S. Yeddyurappa of the BJP would be Chief Minister for the next 20 months. The alliance between the BJP and the JD(S) collapsed in October 2007 after Kumaraswamy refused to let Yeddyurappa take over as Chief minister as had been agreed upon in 2006. They briefly got together and formed a short-lived government headed by Yeddyurappa in November 2007 but it quickly collapsed due to disagreements over power-sharing. As a result, the state came under the president's rule and new elections were called for.


Schedule

The
Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...
announced that polling would be held in a three phases on 10th, 16th and 22 May and that results would be declared on 25 May. It also declared that the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct "came into force with immediate effect" with the said announcement.


Campaign

The state was the first in India to vote after the electoral constituencies had been redrawn based on new population data. The BJP campaigned on the high rate of
inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...
and criticized the national
United Progressive Alliance United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a centre-left political alliance of predominantly left-leaning political parties in India. It was formed after the 2004 general election with support from left-leaning political parties when no single party ...
government for being soft on
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
. The party called on the voters to give the party a chance in Karnataka. But the main election plank of the party was the betrayal of the JD (S) and the good budgets presented by Yeddyurappa when he was finance minister in the coalition government. The Congress party pledged to reign in prices, improve the infrastructure of the state, and provide a stable government.


Results


Results by Constituency

Source: ''Sources:
Election Commission of India The Election Commission of India (ECI) is a constitutional body. It was established by the Constitution of India to conduct and regulate elections in the country. Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the power of superintendence, di ...
, Times of India, News 18, News Minute''


Aftermath

Although the BJP fell 3 seats short of getting an absolute majority,
B. S. Yeddyurappa Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa (born 27 February 1943), often referred to by his initials BSY, is an Indian politician currently serving as the member of the Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary board committee since 17 August 2022, t ...
was able to become chief minister with the support of 6
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
members of the assembly. He was sworn in as Chief minister on 30 May 2008 along with a 30 strong
Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...
, which included 5 of the 6 independents who had agreed to back the BJP.
Jagadish Shettar Jagadish Shivappa Shettar (born 17 December 1955) is an Indian politician belonging to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who served as the 21st Chief Minister of Karnataka from 2012 to 2013. He has subsequently served as Leader of the Opposition in ...
was elected
speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...
on 5 June and a vote of confidence was passed by voice vote on 6 June after the opposition walked out.


References


External links


Karnataka constituency results
{{Karnataka elections 2008 State Assembly elections in India State Assembly elections in Karnataka 2000s in Karnataka