Where heart surgeries are done for free

The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences. Photograph: Courtesy Sai Baba Hospital

‘I have never seen anything like this on earth,’ says Dr Michael Nobel, chairman, Appeal of the Peace Prize Laureates Foundation. ‘It is a wonderful feeling, far removed from the national healthcare in the West, which does not seem to work very well. The impressive thing about the hospital created by Bhagwan Sai Baba is the combination of three aspects: State-of-the-art technology, free medical treatment and the healing powers of his presence instilling in the patient the firm belief that he or she will get well.’

The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences’s super-specialty hospital in Whitefield, near Bangalore, offers free heart surgeries to people from all walks of life. Till date it has conducted nearly 400,000 surgeries, according to its staff who point out that no billing counter exists at the hospital.

The hospital’s mission is to ‘provide high quality medical care absolutely on a no cost basis to all irrespective of caste, creed, religion, and financial status in an overall spiritual environment which recognises the patient as a human being and not as a diseased entity.’
Every patient receives the same treatment

The hospital is located on a 53-acre complex. A large number of patients, young and old, rich and poor, get their heart problems treated free of cost. Such treatment could cost Rs 400,000 at other medical facilities.
Y Arvind, manager of public relations, Sri Sathya Sai Baba Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, says the hospital’s list of patients is endless.

“We have patients throughout the day. I must tell you we are proud of our waiting list. We meet every patient and we never promise what we cannot deliver. But we only deliver the best here. The doctors meet and evaluate each and every patient who comes here. The cases are taken up for treatment depending on their urgency,” he added.

Every patient receives the same treatment here, free-of-cost. “The idea is that each patient is at the same level and if you do not pay for your treatment, then everyone is on par,” explains Arvind.

Donations provide the hospital’s funds
With a built up area of 354,000 sq feet, the hospital houses 333 beds, eight operation theatres, six intensive care units, two cardiac cath labs and a 24-hour emergency unit.

How does the hospital provide free medical treatment to so many patients?

All the funds for the hospital come from the medical trust, which in turn receives donations from various charitable trusts and Sathya Sai Baba’s devotees.

Arvind explains that on an average, the hospital spends Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) a month on surgeries, treatment, maintenance costs and staff salaries.

No medical counseling, but patient counseling

“We manage this thanks to resource optimisation,” points out Arvind. “For example, we don’t waste paper. It is compulsory for anyone using a note to use both sides and not throw it away after writing on only one side.”
The doctors have been instructed not to conduct medical counseling, but counsel every patient instead. The doctors draw up an emotional profile of the patient to figure out the route of his emotional imbalance. This understanding helps the doctors keep patients calm; studies have proved that a calm mind helps heal a patient better.

Sathya Sai Baba’s first medical initiative began with the Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital, Prasanthi Nilayam, which was inaugurated on October 4, 1956 as a 12-bed facility to serve poor villagers in Puttaparthi, Andhra Pradesh, and surrounding villages.

Calm patients get better faster

Soon the hospital attracted patients from across Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, adjoining districts and other states.
Over the years, the SSSGH grew from a single room establishment to a general hospital with 90-bed capacity, treating patients suffering from various aliments. The hospital’s Out Patient Department now handles nearly 600 patients daily on an average.

In 1976, a second hospital, the Sri Sathya Sai General Hospital, Whitefield, was inaugurated. Sathya Sai Baba also founded the Sri Sathya Sai Medical Trust in September 1991 to set up super-specialty hospitals to provide quality medical care to needy patients irrespective of caste, creed and religion.

Medical care minus tags

The Sri Sathya Sai Medical Trust’s first venture to provide high-tech tertiary medical care came in the form of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Puttaparthi, in November 1991. The institute treats heart and urinary diseases and cancer patients.
After its success, the Karnataka government offered Sathya Sai Baba 53 acres of land to establish another super-specialty hospital. The Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, Bangalore, was inaugurated on January 19, 2001.

Dr Manmohan Singh’s richest ministers

Praful Patel

The United Progressive Alliance government comprises 47 crorepati ministers. Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel is the richest of the lot with assets worth Rs 89.9 crore.

In its report, the National Election Watch states that in the new government, Congress tops the list with 38 crorepatis while the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has 5, NCP-2 and National Conference and Trinamool Congress one crorepati minister each. The report also states that the average asset of ministers in this Lok Sabha is Rs 7.63 crore while that of the MPs in the new Lok Sabha is Rs 5.12 crore. Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is the poorest with assets worth Rs 4 lakh.

Praful Patel: Rs 89.9 crore

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who hails from Bhandara Gondiya in Maharashtra, is worth Rs 89,906,4977 (Rs 89.9 crore).

Patel, who graduated from Mumbai’s Sydenham College prior to joining his family business, runs the Rs 500-crore CeeJay Group — the biggest beedi and tobacco-derivative makers.

He is also known as the Beedi King of Vidarbha.

Preneet Kaur: Rs 42.3 crore

Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur is worth Rs 423,043,438 (Rs 42.3 crore).

The Congress MP from Patiala in Punjab is the wife of former Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh and the daughter of former Punjab Chief Secretary Sr Gian Singh Kahlon.

The former Maharani Sahiba from Patiala attended St Bede’s College and graduated from convent of Jesus and Mary, Shimla.

Kapil Sibal

Kapil Sibal: Rs 31.97 crore

Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal has assets worth Rs 319,722,459 (Rs 31.97 crore).

Elected from the Chandini Chowk constituency in New Delhi, Sibal was one of country’s topmost lawyers before he joined active politics.

Sibal attended Harvard Law School and also served as the Additional Solicitor General of India.

Vincent H Pala: Rs 25.16 crore

Minister of State in the Ministry of Water Resources Vincent H Pala has assets worth Rs 251,621,190 (Rs 25.16 crore).

Pala was elected from the Shillong constituency in Meghalaya. A civil engineer by profession, he was an assistant engineer in the Public Works Department of his state.

Pala, who is known as the trouble shooter for the Congress in Meghalaya, took voluntary retirement when he was the assistant chief engineer.

Virbhadra Singh: Rs 22.52 crore

Minister of Steel Virbhadra Singh has assets worth Rs 225,228,748 (Rs 22.52 crore).

Elected from Mandi constituency in Himachal Pradesh, Singh did his masters in arts in Shimla. Apart from being an honorary captain in the Indian Army, he was also an agriculturist and a horticulturist. He is a former cheif minister of HP.

Ministers with criminal antecedents

Subodh Kant Sahay

Nine ministers in the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance government have criminal records pending against them. Of the nine ministers, one minister face serious charges, according to a National Election Watch report.

Find out the ministers with criminal antecedents.

Subodh Kant Sahay: Faces assault and being member of an unlawful Assembly charges. Has not been convicted yet.

Constituency: Ranchi

Wasnik Mukul Balkrishna: Faces charges of rioting and wrongful restraint.

Constituency: Ramtek in Maharashtra.

Harish Rawat faces charges of criminal conspiracy and defamation.

Constituency: Haridwar

Gandhiselvan

Gandhiselvan faces rash driving and causing grievous hurt.

Constituency: Namakkal

Arun Yadav faces charges of rioting and wrongful restraint.

Constituency: Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh.

Adhikari Sisir faces charges of rioting and voluntarily causing hurt. He has one serious charge under the Indian Penal Code registered against him.

Constituency: Kanthi in West Bengal.

Ajay Makan from Delhi faces charges of rioting and wrongful restraint.

Others are:

Pratik Prakashbabu Patil faces wrongful restraint charges. Constituency: Sangli

Pradeep Kumar Jain: Charges of rioting, wrongful restraint and criminal trespass. Constituency: Jhansi.

LeT’s Gulf operatives financed 26/11: IB

The Gulf link to terror in India seems to be getting stronger. While the Bangalore police have managed to get details of four persons from the Gulf who were financing and facilitating terror operations, they have now uncovered a Gulf link to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks too.

While the Bangalore police are probing the role of Nawaz in the serial blasts, the Mumbai police are trying to ascertain the role of a man named Ali Abdul Azeez. Sources in the Intelligence Bureau told rediff.com that this man, who is a financer based in Muscat, could provide vital leads regarding the funding of the 26/11 attack.

Investigations suggest that Azeez had visited Mumbai in November, nine days before the 26/11 attack. He is also linked to Fahim Ansari, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative, being tried in the 26/11 attack.

Azeez is presently in the custody of the Oman police and information shared with the Indian police suggest that this man could have had direct links with many persons involved in the Mumbai attacks.

IB and investigating officials say that both Azeez and Nawaz played vital roles in financing of terror activities in India. The Bangalore police, who are investigating Nawaz, say they would be able to crack the LeT’s finance network in Muscat soon.

Nawaz was brought down to Bangalore in dramatic fashion. In total secrecy, officials of the Research and Analysis Wing brought Nawaz from Muscat to Bangalore in an operation that took even the Air Traffic Control by surprise. The scale of the operation indicates this man was a very important link.

Sources say these two men would be crucial to unravel the funding of 26/11 and other terror attacks in India. The Lashkar had moved its financial base into Gulf countries a few years back as it felt that it was easier for them to raise funds there. Moreover, the outfit also found several sympathisers in the Gulf. The Lashkar had also handpicked hawala operators from India and posted them in the Gulf so that they could transfer money for the attacks easily.

IB officials say that they do not rule out the possibility of the financers of both the Mumbai attack and other serial blasts cases working hand in hand. All these persons belong to the Lashkar and have operated out of the same module, they say.

LeT’s Gulf link uncovered

Police from various states probing the blasts that rocked various parts the country have uncovered a link to the Gulf in these blasts.

Sources told rediff.com that during the course of investigation, the names of three persons belonging to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, who managed this entire operation from the Gulf have been uncovered. They are Wali alias Shameem, Muslim Basheer and Haroon. All the three persons are believed to be of Pakistani origin and are believed to have been deputed in the Gulf to raise funds and monitor operations planned for India.

The 35-year-old Shameem is the main operator for the LeT in the Gulf. He is mainly in charge of raising funds and coordinating with the operatives from the Students Islamic Movement of India and Indian Mujahideen, who ultimately carried out the serial blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Surat. Shameem hails from Pakistan and has handled the Gulf based operations for the last five years.

Muslim Basheer, 55, who also hails from Pakistan, is based in Ruwi, Muscat. An executive at a broadcasting company, this man was responsible for coordinating the attacks in India.

Haroon is was a travel agent operating out of Muscat. A hawala transactor, this man according to the investigation had helped terror operatives move money, from the Gulf region into India, so that the blasts could be carried out.

Sources in the Intelligence Bureau said that the Gulf link to terror in India has been increasing. This is probably the first time that these operatives were directly involved in attacks of this nature. All these years, the Gulf operatives of the Lashkar ensured that the money was raised and transferred to the area of operation. This Gulf module was intentionally asked to lie low all these years.

Apart from fund raising, this module was used mainly to ensure that operatives sent in from Pakistan into the Gulf had a safe passage into other countries where the terrorists had planned on undertaking horrific attacks.

Our country needs more soldiers, says 26/11 martyr’s father

Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan

Six months have passed since the dastardly attack on Mumbai by ten terrorists from Pakistan that killed over 170 people and sent shockwaves across the world.

The National Security Guards, which fought valiantly to rescue the hostages held by the terrorists during the three-day terror siege, lost two of its valiant men during the operation — Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and hawaldar Gajendra Singh

While the rest of India remembers the 26/11 victims and martyrs today, for Major Unnikrishnan’s parents life will never be the same again.

“Not a single day passes when we don’t think about him,” says K Unnikrishnan, father of Major Unnikrishnan.

He added on an emotional note, “Just this morning, I heard my wife crying. When I went up to her, I saw her holding a comb in her hand. That was my son’s comb and his hair was stuck on it. We don’t want to clean that comb since that hair is the only physical remnant we have of him. His thoughts never leave us, even for a single second. Everyday we go through Sandeep’s belongings. We will preserve everything. We have formed a trust in his name and hope that it will help a lot of people.”

Major Unnikrishnan died like a hero, while he was trying to save some of his colleagues from the terrorists’ bullets, during the operation in the Taj Mahal Hotel.

Speaking about coming to terms with the loss of their only son, K Unnikrishnan says, “The last six months have been tough on us. Life crawls and there is not a single day when we don’t think of our brave son. Nothing much has really changed in the last six months. If you ask me whether the country has become any safer, then I really don’t know. There is a stable government at the Centre and I feel that a sense of security comes with stability. So let us hope for the best.”

But he is proud of his son, who laid down his life for the country. “I feel so proud of Sandeep. The other day, we met his first chief executive officer in the 16th Bihar Regiment. I was beaming with pride when he told me that from day one itself, he knew that my son had potential,” recalls K Unnikrishnan.

And he has decided to pay tribute to his son’s life in a unique way. “My wife and I are traveling to a lot of places. We will visit every place where my son has served. It is a tribute to my brave son,” he added.

On a more assertive note, K Unnikrishnan said, “It is a must that people join the armed forces, because our country needs it. Just because I lost my son, I would not discourage anyone from joining the armed forces. If it had not been my son, then it would have been someone else’s son. In June, I am traveling to the National Defence Academy, where I will felicitate some of the new recruits.”

Speaking on the unpleasant run-in with Kerala Chief Minister V Achutanandan, who had famously said that even a dog wouldn’t have visited the Unnikrishnans’ residence had it not been for his martyr son, the grieving father says that he has put those incidents behind him.

“The incident with the Kerala chief minister was an unpleasant one and it had occurred due to some misunderstanding. I am an apolitical man and I don’t want to indulge in any sort of politics,” he clarified.

But he struggled to complete the rest of his statement. “I have only nationalism and patriotism within me and you know what; Sandeep is the one who has instilled these feelings of nationalism and patriotism within me,” he said tearfully.

Why Phalcon AWACS matter to India

India took a major step towards establishing strategic dominance in the South Asian region on May 25 when the first of the three Israeli Phalcon Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems aircraft touched down in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

The AWACS, mounted on a Russian Ilyushin-76 airframe, will look deep into our neighbouring countries and detect incoming missiles and aircraft from hundreds of kilometres away in all-weather conditions. It will also help detect troop build-up in territories around us.

To find out more about how the Phalcon AWACS, rediff.com spoke to two retired Air Marshals.

Air Marshal (Retd) K C Kariappa: Forearmed is forewarned. The Phalcon AWACS will help India monitor the movement of aircraft and troop build-up both during war and hostile situations. The AWACS will be able to look at least 200 miles into enemy territory and give advance warning on potential enemy threat. The air defence of our country will be made much more responsive.

The AWACS is a force multiplier, which can help pick up movement of aircraft that are on the ground and also air-borne. This will mean that India would have immediate information on any kind of aircraft movement across the border, which would in turn give both the air force and the army more response time.

The extremely sophisticated AWACS will make a huge difference to our armed forces and there will not be any time wasted in monitoring the situation across the borders. I personally feel that India could have had this technology at least 15 to 20 years back.

The AWACS has been around for at least 15 to 20 years and it has always been on our wishlist or shopping list. Hence I feel that we could have got them much earlier.

We face a terror threat from Pakistan and I will have to say that the AWACS will not be able to monitor this threat too effectively. The reason: Terrorists use the mountain route more often to infiltrate or build up their forces. Due to the cover provided by mountains, the AWACS will not have the capability to penetrate and track the movement of terrorists if they are using the mountain route. However, if there is a troop build-up on the plains then the system will come in handy.

Air Marshal (Retd) B K Pandey: The Phalcon AWACS will definitely boost the capabilities of our armed forces. The AWACS is an air-borne radar with a command control system through which we can control the air defence sector. We already have an elaborate ground radar system but these radars will find it difficult to penetrate through regions which have a lot of trees. The AWACS will basically close these gaps.

The AWACS will help us keep a watch on our neighbours, especially Pakistan. It will keep an eye on all air fields across the border and also keep a watch on air-borne aircraft. Once an aircraft is spotted, it would give it an ID and help track its movement.

The same thing, when done through radar, takes a lot of time.

However, I would like to add here that just three aircraft are not sufficient for round-the-clock cover. Although I will say it is a great start, offhand I think that we need at least 18 to 20 more such aircraft in order to keep round-the-clock cover.

To tackle issues like terrorism, especially from a country like Pakistan, we would need a multi-pronged solution. There needs to be infinite endurance and we need to combine new technology with round-the-clock surveillance.

There is a lot of input that has to come from human means, which in turn has to be combined with the latest technology in order to tackle terrorism.

Meet the poorest MPs

Mamta Banerjee

The 543 Members of Parliament, who have been elected to the Lok Sabha, have combined assets of Rs 3,075 crore. There are an estimated 300 MPs with assets worth Rs one crore or more in the new Lok Sabha.

The Association for Democratic Reforms, in association with the National Election Watch, has compiled the list of the richest and poorest Members of Parliament. The list is based on the assets declared by the candidates, before the Election Commission, when they had filed their nominations for the Lok Sabha polls.

The richest candidate in the 15th Lok Sabha is Nama Nageshwar Rao, who won from Khammam in Andhra Pradesh, with a net worth of Rs 173 crore.

Let us now take a look at 10 of the poorest candidates in the Parliament.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who was elected from Kolkata Dakshin constituency, is the tenth poorest MP in the 15th Lok Sabha.

She may be the numerically storngest ally of the Congress but the Didi from Kalighat is worth on Rs 473,194.

Charandas Mahant of the Congress, who was elected from Korba constituency in Chattisgarh, tops the list of the poorest MPs. He has net assets worth only Rs 12,000.

His fellow Congressman N Peethambara Kurup, elected from Kollam constituency in Kerala, is at the second spot with Rs 150,600.

Lingam P of the Communist Party of India, elected from the Tenkasi constituency in Tamil Nadu, is the third poorest MP with Rs 159, 365.

Laxman Tudu of the Biju Janata Dal, who was elected from the Mayurbhanj constituency in Orissa, is at the number four spot with Rs 173,000.

Pradeep Kumar Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who was elected from the Araria constituency in Bihar, is worth Rs 257,014. He is the fifth poorest MP is Parliament.

Meenakshi Natarajan of the Congress, elected from the Mandsour constituency in Madhya Pradesh, is at the sixth spot. She has assets worth Rs 315,281.

Saroj Mondal of the Bharatiya Janata Party, who was elected from the Durg constituency in Chattisgarh, is seventh with Rs 379,787.

P K Biju

Dr Tarun Mondal, an independent candidate elected from Jaynagar in West Bengal, is at the eight spot. His net assets are worth Rs 433,667.

P K Biju of the Communist Party of India-Marxist, who was elected from Alathur constituency in Kerala, is at the ninth spot with Rs 461,000.

Serial blasts: Key man from Kerala hiding in Bangladesh

Investigators into the serial blasts that rocked various Indian cities have identified a Kerala-based chief recruiter who personally handpicked men for terror operations.

Son of a rich businessman in Kannur, 35-year-old Haji Umar, aka Nasir, was working for the now defunct Islamic Seva Sangh before joining the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.

The interrogation of the 10 arrested persons in connection with the Bangalore blasts case has revealed how Umar recruited youth into the terror movement.

Another startling discovery is that Abdul Hameed, one of the men recruited by Nasir, was assigned to assassinate E K Nayanar, former chief minister of Kerala.

A senior police officer in Bangalore told rediff.com that Nasir’s arrest could lead to major terror plots being hatched across India.

In Kerala, the first thing Nasir did was to identify men for the operations. Not only did he handpick operatives for operations, he also sent a large group to fight Lashkar’s battle in Kashmir.

During the first leg of his recruitment, he handpicked five men and sent them to wage the “Kashmir war”. After training for a year, these men were sent to Kashmir to wage a war. Four of the five men were killed in the battle while the fifth man, Jabbar, was picked up by the joint investigation team of the Kerala police.

Jabbar said Nasir had recruited him and sent him across the border where he trained in armed combat and also underwent AK-47 training.

The Bangalore police said Nasir’s arrest was key to all investigations.

“Not only will it help crack this case completely, but it will also give a fair understanding to the Kerala police, too, about the various recruitment hubs there are in that state.

Nasir, however, has fled to Bangladesh.Interpol’s help has been sought to track down this man, the police said.

Why the BJP won in Karnataka

Karnataka was the saving grace for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the otherwise dismal showing in elections 2009. The BJP took everyone by surprise and proved every poll pundit wrong when it bagged 19 out of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka. This in fact is a better performance compared to the 2004 elections when the party won 18 seats only due to the Vajpayee wave.

Ever since the first BJP government in the South was formed a year ago, there have only been problems for the BJP. It started off with the firing on farmers in Haveri in which one farmer was killed. Although the BJP managed to ward away these initial problems, the biggest worry for the party was the church attacks in Mangalore which was followed by the violence against women in pubs.

Although these acts were carried out by the Bajrang Dal and the Shri Ram Sene respectively, the BJP government led by B S Yeddyurappa repeatedly told the people that his government was committed to acting against such violence. While the government managed to cool tempers where the church attacks were concerned people thought that the attack on women at the pub would be the party’s Waterloo in Karnataka. However, the BJP managed to prove everyone wrong.

There are five primary reasons why the BJP managed to take Karnataka so easily despite all the hurdles and negative campaigning that took place against it in the state.

Operation Lotus: Immediately after the party came to power in the state, the party launched Operation Lotus in which it managed to lure the cream from both the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular. At least 17 candidates from both parties were inducted into the BJP. These leaders who crossed over to the BJP have the reputation of winning elections irrespective of the party they belong to. This factor helped the BJP since these floor crossers campaigned extensively for the party.

Honeymoon period: The BJP has been in power in Karnataka for just a year now and hence it had the advantage of a honeymoon period. Explains Sandeep S, a noted psephologist, “The negative campaign against the party has not done any damage to it. The church attacks has not helped the party as is being claimed by some of its leaders. When a government is in power for such a short period, the people generally tend to overlook its mistakes.The people of Karnataka basically have given the BJP a chance to prove itself as they feel that it is too early to judge the party by certain issues that went wrong.

Early campaign: The BJP when compared to the Congress and the JD-S got off to a quick start where campaigning was concerned. The party announced its list of candidates much earlier than the rest of the parties. This fact worked to the advantage of the party. When the BJP had started its campaign, the Congress and the JD-S had not announced their list of candidates.

At first there was a lot of dissidence within the party at the commencement of the polls. The candidature of B Y Raghavendra, son of the chief minister, Janardhan Swamy and Nalin Kumar Kateel did not go down too well with some of the party members. However at the end of it the party worked as a well oiled machine and overcame these problems. The BJP was able to achieve this since it was in power in the state and hence was able to deal with this issue well.

Opposition’s attitude: The opposition Congress has only itself to blame for not capitalising on various failures of the BJP in the state. When the election process was announced, each one thought that the BJP would be put on the backfoot by the Congress. However, the Congress failed to capitalise on this factor and continued to remain a hopelessely divided force in Karnataka. Leaders of the party were more interested in safeguarding their factions rather than taking the party forward. There was a lot of infighting over the candidature of Margaret Alva, S Bangarappa, CK Jaffer Sharrief and HT Sangliana. There was a lot of negative campaigning by partymen against these candidatures. The joke in Karnataka is that no one defeats the Congress, but the party defeats itself. Speaking of the third largest party in Karnataka, the JD-S, the campaign was strong and vigorous only in certain parts of the state. The focus was more on Kumaraswamy, Zameer Ahmed and H D Deve Gowda and it seemed as though the party was more interested in winning only these three seats.

Better vote share: The BJP also benefitted immensely from an improvement in vote share. While in 2004, the party had a vote share of 34.8 per cent, this time around the party got 41.6 per cent of the vote. This is a major factor since if compared to the rest of the states, the BJP has not managed to increase its vote share compared to 2004.

The improvement of the party’s vote share in Karnataka is also largely due to a sympathy factor for the party in the state. The elections were regarded as BJP vs the rest. A large number of voters especially from the Hindu community felt that the party was being singled out and hence voted for it in large numbers. Take the Dakshin Kannada constituency for instance where no poll pundit got his or her prediction right. Mohan Bhandari, BJP district president says that there was a negative campaign against the party. There were sermons in churches urging the people to vote against the BJP. Voters both young and old were driven into Mangalore and asked to cast their vote against the BJP. However the Hindus in Dakshin Kannada felt that it was an uncessary campaign and decided to come out and vote in favour of the BJP in large numbers and in the bargain created a record of sorts. The polling percentage in Dakshin Kannada is the highest till date with 74.44 per cent of which the BJP got 49.16 per cent of the votes.

While the BJP managed to retain all the 18 seeats that it had won the last time, the party increased its tally by one thanks to delimitation. The new constituency, Bangalore Central was bagged by the BJP this time. The fact that the BJP managed to retain Bangalore, Bangalore-South, Bangalore-North and win Bangalore Central and Dakshin Kannada (formerly Mangalore) is also an indication that most of the urban voters has preferred this party.