Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Analysis: South of the Vindhyas, the Narendra Modi wave met with divided response. Karnataka may have given BJP a big fillip, but Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh still have a dominant Congress leaning
It is the custom of the country to perceive, and imagine, a shift in tempo, style and manners, along with a real linguistic shift, south of the Vindhyas. That 바카라˜North-South divide바카라™ came into partial play in this election, as a second Modi wave engulfed the country. As the NDA rode a landslide victory to retain power, it seems that two southern states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, were immune to 바카라˜Modi magic바카라™, even as Karnataka and Telangana succumbed to it.
In Karnataka, till now the only southern state breached by the BJP, the party reaped a surprisingly rich harvest바카라”a near sweep of 25, largely attributable to a sparring JD(S) and the Congress, the ruling coalition partners. The BJP바카라™s persistence in trying to destabilise the government by wooing its MLAs has also worked in its favour. Â
That admirable quality of pegging away at a target바카라”a project of expanding its footprints in the South바카라”bore fruit in Telangana, where the party won four seats. It startled the ruling TRS, which confidently expeÂcted a sweep, but secured only nine seats. However, the other three states, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, continue to spurn BJP바카라™s Hindutva ideology. Â
 Though the BJP바카라™s dominant narrative on national security, bolstered by the Balakot attacks, has hugely contributed to its massive victory elsewhere, its rhetoric on 바카라˜muscular nationalism바카라™ has limited appeal in the south. Likewise, Pulwama and Balakot have barely figured in the BJP바카라™s southern campaigns.  Â
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu continues to elude BJP, as DMK and allies have secured a landslide victory. A miserably fractious AIADMK post the death of Jayalalitha was always a sitting duck; in allying with it as a junior partner, the BJP was on a sticky wicket. However low-hanging the fruit was, it had to be plucked, and credit for the win goes to DMK president M.K. Stalin.
Kerala has bucked the national trend, giving a clear verdict in favour of the Congress-led UDF, which swept through 19 out of 20 seats. The BJP바카라™s ploy of an incursion into Kerala on the wings of the contentious issue of
womens바카라™ entry to Sabarimala temple, thus came a cropper. The BJP was eying two seats바카라”Thiruvanathapuram and Pathanamthitta. Though the ConÂgress made gains at the cost of the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF, the huge mandate was clearly aimed at stalling a second NDA term. The 바카라˜Congress wave바카라™ can, of course, be attributed to Rahul Gandhi바카라™s winning candidature from Wayanad. The BJP, triumphant in Karnataka, would take heart from Telangana. But count on them to gird their loins and rejoin battle in Kerala and TN.
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