The election to the Karnataka assembly slated for May 12 is an important election but not a portent of the 2019 general election. The victor of Karnataka is not guaranteed to lead the next central government, however much frenzied(क्रोधित)importance breathless(बेदम) commentators(समीक्षक/व्याख्याता) want to invest in the Karnataka contest. There are other large states going to the polls — Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan — before 2019 and their outcome would be at least as significant as Karnataka’s. Then again, state elections take place on regional considerations(विचार/ध्यान) and are no reliable(विश्वसनीय/भरोसेमंद) predictor(भविष्यवक्ता/पूर्व वादी) of voter behaviour in elections to the Lok Sabha. In 2003, the Congress lost Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, but went on to form the next government at the Centre in 2004.
Every ruling party faces some level of resentment(नाराज़गी/द्वेष )from sections of the populace: no government can please everyone all the time. The disgruntled(असंतुष्ट/क्रोधी) would vote against it in the next election. It is to Siddaramaiah’s credit that this anti-incumbent sentiment appears to be relatively weak in Karnataka. But the normal logic of the electoral cycle —people vote against the politicians who had let them down most recently, diluting(गिराए) their animosity towards(प्रतिद्वंद्विता की ओर) the bunch(झुंड/जनसमूह) they had voted out the last time around — works against the Congress in the state. But in Yeddyurappa, the BJP has a candidate whose reputation(प्रतिष्ठा/प्रसिद्धि) for providing a clean administration leaves much to be desired. What the BJP has going for it in the state is the combination of Mayawati’s BSP and Deve Gowda’s JD(S), which promises to split the anti-BJP vote across Karnataka, and most effectively in the state’s southern parts. This should offset, to some extent, the confusion in the influential(प्रभावशाली/प्रभावी), traditionally pro-BJP Lingayat community created by its new religious minority status.Even as the commentariat(टिप्पणीकारों) spends its high-decibel energy on the national significance of the Karnataka election, the central government should go about its routine(सामान्य) work without bothering about its impact on the election. Different levels of the federal polity should not hobble one another.
Important Vocabulary
1.Frenzied(क्रोधित)
Synonyms: agitated, delirious, feverish, frantic, frenetic
Antonyms: balanced, calm, collected, happy, peaceful
2.Diluting(गिराए)
Synonyms: adulterate, alter, decrease, diminish,, lessen
Antonyms: aggravate, develop, enlarge, expand, extend
3.Reliable(विश्वसनीय/भरोसेमंद)
Synonyms: decent, decisive, dependable, good, honest
Antonyms: bad, broken, corrupt, dishonest, evil
4.Resentment(नाराज़गी/द्वेष )
Synonyms:acrimony, animosity, animus, annoyance, antagonism
Antonyms: calm, calmness, cheer, comfort, delight
5.Bunch(झुंड/जनसमूह)
Synonyms: assemblage, assortment, band, batch, bevy
Antonyms: individual, one
6.Reputation(प्रतिष्ठा/प्रसिद्धि)
Synonyms: character, fame, honor, influence, name
Antonyms: unimportance, disapproval, disbelief, disfavor, dislike
