Assembly Election

Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah faces no severe criticism for his tenure, but there are constituents of Karnataka that are unhappy with the incumbent government. Sections of the Lingayats firmly back the Bharatiya Janata Party in parts of central and northern Karnataka, which challenges the Congress’s prospects of a second term. The Janata Dal (Secular) is also a force to reckon with in south Karnataka. However, overall, the contest will probably be a close one, primarily between the Congress and the BJP.

This article examines the prospects of the BSP in three of the states going to the polls at the end of this year, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and the National Capital Region of Delhi, and concludes that despite the pivotal position that the dalit identity has come to occupy in national politics, there are limits to the growth of the BSP's influence in these states in the forthcoming assembly elections.

Analysis of the February 2002 assembly elections in UP and their outcome: the issues, the division of seats among the electoral alliances, the composition of candidates of different parties, the gains and losses of the parties in terms of seats and vote shares for the whole state and for different regions, voter preferences for parties by caste and other characteristics and the impact of the election campaigns on the performance of the parties.