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Abstract
The recent elections held in Karnataka were significant for a number of reasons, many of which were discussed threadbare in the popular press at different levels. The BJP victory was astounding. Veterans politicians like Mallikarjun Kharge, who never lost an election or those like Deva Gowda and Veerappa Moily, all of them lost by huge margins. A more exhaustive analysis tends to happens only as a post-factor event - something which is bound to happen even this time. The verdict has confounded many observers who were looking at the larger picture. Hence, there is often an attempt to simplify what is otherwise a complex and perplexing result. There is no doubt that factors like nationalism, terrorism and related aspects did play an important part in the outcome, it would be unfair to ascribe the results only to one or two factors. Using the prism of an analysis of the results in Karnataka we argue that the verdict is the result of more complex factors that are at work in the state.