THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary - May 12, 2018 - Topic 1

Karnataka votes

No matter who wins, the Karnataka Assembly election is set to redraw the political landscape at the national level prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. True, elections are due later this year in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, but the Karnataka verdict could colour these too. Winning Karnataka is essential for the BJP’s plans to present itself as a truly pan-Indian party, one with a presence in the south. It will also provide a fillip to its unrealistic boast of creating a Congress-mukt Bharat. 

For the Congress, Karnataka is critical. It is the only really large State where it is in power and the only one in the south, if we discount Puducherry. It is nowhere close to being a contender in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, and currently is a poor second to the TRS in Telangana and the LDF in Kerala. A loss in Karnataka will be perceived as a serious setback to the Congress’s plans to mount a challenge to the BJP next year. For the BJP, a failure to wrest Karnataka will be difficult to ingest. As the principal opposition party that won a majority of the Lok Sabha seats from Karnataka in 2014, the BJP was the front-runner until the last bend. Over the last year, there is a perception that it has lost some of its earlier connect with the southern State, allowing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to stage a fightback. With regional sentiments running high, the consolidation of the Hindu vote is not happening in favour of the BJP; indeed, Mr. Siddaramaiah has shrewdly and cynically fanned linguistic and caste emotions to paint the BJP as a pro-Hindi party opposed to regional sentiments. To this end, the Congress pushed ahead with its plans for a separate Karnataka flag, and the status of a religion for the Lingayat sect.

The return of B.S. Yeddyurappa to the party has increased the BJP’s vote-share in the northern and central parts of the State. But as the party’s chief ministerial candidate, the Congress has been given a handle to raise the corruption bogey given the cases he was embroiled in; at the same time, his candidature has diminished the force of the charges against the Congress government on this very ground. The big question is whether there exists a latent anti-incumbency sentiment that the BJP can tap into. The one certainty about this election is that the Janata Dal (Secular) will come in third; whether it is in a position to play king-maker in a hung Assembly remains to be seen. Although Mr. Siddaramaiah betrayed political insecurity by contesting two seats and secured a seat for his son, he managed to keep the focus on Karnataka and prevent the election from being transformed into a presidential-style national face-off between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. There is something to be said for this, but in what opinion polls suggest will be a really tight race, all bets seem to be off.

Vocabulary

Redraw: draw or draw up again or differently.

Example: A judge forced Los Angeles to redraw its districts

Landscape: all the visible features of an area of countryside or land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.

Example: The giant cacti that dominate this landscape

Synonyms: scenery, countryside, topography, country, terrain, outlook

Essential: absolutely necessary; extremely important.

Example: It is essential to keep up-to-date records

Synonyms: crucial, necessary, key, vital, indispensable, important

Fillip: something that acts as a stimulus or boost to an activity.

Example: The halving of the automobile tax would provide a fillip to sales

Synonyms: stimulus, stimulation, boost, incentive, impetus, tonic

Unrealistic: not realistic.

Example: It was unrealistic to expect changes to be made overnight

Synonyms: impractical, impracticable, unfeasible, nonviable, unreasonable

Perception: the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

Example: The normal limits to human perception

Linguistic: the ability to do something successfully or efficiently.

Example: The players displayed varying degrees of competence

Synonyms: capability, ability, competency, proficiency, accomplishment

Fanned: disperse or radiate from a central point to cover a wide area.

Example: The arriving passengers began to fan out through the town in search of lodgings

Synonyms: spread out, branch out, outspread

Diminish: make or become less.

Example: A tax whose purpose is to diminish spending

Synonyms: decrease, lessen, decline, reduce, subside, die down

Incumbency: the holding of an office or the period during which one is held.

Example: His chief advantage is his incumbency and its inherent command of the free-media forum that will be pivotal over the next eight weeks.

Latent: existing but not yet developed or manifest; hidden; concealed.

Example: Discovering her latent talent for diplomacy

Prevent: keep something from happening or arising.

Example: Action must be taken to prevent further accidents

Synonyms: stop, put a stop to, avert, nip in the bud, fend off