Who won Karnataka for Congress? Neither Rahul Gandhi nor Priyanka Vadra

The Congress party swept the Karnataka assembly elections with a thumping victory as it emerged victorious in 135 constituencies out of 224 and is leading in one more. The BJP, on the other hand, managed to win just 65 seats. The Janata Dal-Secular (JDS), which was the third major party in the race, won 19 seats as compared to 37 in the previous election.

Outgoing CM Basavaraj Bommai has already tendered his resignation to Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot making way for two most likely contenders from Congress- DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah. While both campaigned rigorously in the state for over four months, the Congress leadership believes that campaigns by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra played a huge role in winning the state elections. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh even said that the victory was a 'direct impact' of the former's Bharat Jodo Yatra.

कर्नाटक में #BharatJodoYatra का यह सीधा असर है। मोटे तौर पर पार्टी को एकजुट करने, कैडर में जोश भरने और कर्नाटक चुनाव के लिए नैरेटिव सेट करने में यात्रा की ज़बरदस्त भूमिका रही।
भारत जोड़ो यात्रा के दौरान कर्नाटक के लोगों के साथ @RahulGandhi ने कई बातचीत की। इन बातचीत के आधार पर… pic.twitter.com/3zxmIRcRj2

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh)

Did Karnataka Congress' performance rely on Rahul Gandhi?

To call Bharat Jodo Yatra equally as effective as as local Congress leaders' influence if not more so, one must compare the work put into the campaigns. While the Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar and party veteran Siddaramaiah undertook a state-wide tour while campaigning in 224 constituencies in their bus yatras, Rahul Gandhi's foot march made it only through 20 constituencies and seven Lok Sabha segments.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra crossed major constituencies like Kolar, Mangaluru, Chitradurga, Mandya and Chamarajanagar and the Congress party registered victories in all of these constituencies. Jairam Ramesh even shared an analysis report showing that the party managed to win 15 out of the 20 constituencies through which the Bharat Jodo Yatra proceeded. The report even claimed that the BJP, which had won nine seats out of 20 only managed to win two this time whereas Congress improved from 5. 

Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, on the other hand, started their joint bus yatra in January earlier this year and covered the state in different phases of their journey. The duo then separated with their customised buses for a solo journey following which Siddaramaiah toured for 11 days in north and central Karnataka while Shivakumar toured for six days in the state's southern region. Speaking to Republic a few days before the elections, Shivakumar said that he has not had a proper sleep in a long time and recalling the rigorous campaigns might be the reason why he got emotional while speaking to reporters earlier in the day.