Decode Karnataka: Key political takeaways from 2024

As 2024 draws to an end, Decode Karnataka’s year-ender episode looks back at the year that was in news from the State.

As 2024 draws to a close, Decode Karnataka’s year-ender episode looks back at the year that was in news from the State. It will be a deep dive into the major events, moments and developments that defined the State’s political landscape and dominated the headlines for days, weeks and, sometimes, months on end.

Karnataka’s political calendar was marked by two electoral events – Lok Sabha polls in May and bypolls to three Assembly seats (Sandur, Shiggaon and Channapatna) in November this year. While the BJP, in alliance with the JD(S), maintained a strong lead in the former, the tide turned with the Congress winning all three seats in the latter.

The year was also chock-a-block with multiple scams and controversies that led to heated political slugfest as well as massive public outrage. This includes the alleged corruption within Mysuru Urban Development Authority and CM Siddaramaiah’s connection to it, the Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation scam, the Waqf land row, the Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse horror, the POCSO case against former CM B.S. Yediyurappa as well as the alleged illegalities in procurement of Covid-19 equipment by the previous BJP regime as revealed by the Michael D’Cunha commission report.

Karnataka was also at the mercy of weather vagaries, first scorched by drought and later battered by rains, resulting in crop loss and agricultural distress. Meanwhile, the maternal deaths in Ballari were also a reminder of the poor state of public healthcare in the State.

We discuss each of these incidents and reflect on the kind of political rhetoric and engagement we are likely to see in 2025, with our guest speaker and Karnataka bureau’s Resident Editor, Bageshree S.

Reporting: Nalme Nachiyar, Bageshree S

Video & Editing: Ravichandran N