Click here to read live updatesTelangana challengeThe first challenge for the BJP in the south, in the wake of these results, will be in Telangana, where Assembly polls are to be held later this year. Congratulations to the Congress Party for their victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls. — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 13, 2023Lok Sabha battleThe southern States account for 140 Lok Sabha seats, of which the BJP has 28 as of now (29, if one counts the Mandya Lok Sabha MP Sumalatha Ambareesh as an Independent candidate supported by the BJP). With the BJP’s alliances in Bihar and Maharashtra broken, the party has been casting a wide net for the next Lok Sabha polls, areas where newer seats can be won. The absence of a large social group sticking to the BJP, as the Lingayats had done in Karnataka starting in the late 1990s, has hobbled the BJP’s efforts.

Source: The Hindu May 14, 2023 12:38 UTC