evidence: "The Congress leadership in Karnataka stood united and the BJP crumbled under its own misgovernance and infighting," KS Dakshina Murthy, a veteran political commentator and author from Bengaluru, Karnataka’s capital, told Al Jazeera. "The anti-incumbency wave against the saffron party was palpable on the ground," he said, referring to the saffron flag of the BJP. [...] Unlike many opposition leaders in the state and nationally who often hesitate to take on the BJP’s anti-Muslim political campaigns too directly, Siddaramaiah has been consistent in standing against the divisive politics of Modi’s party. [...] "The intelligent and peace-loving people of Karnataka have rejected the bigotry and violence unleashed on minorities by the BJP," Ashok Maridas, a Congress leader from Karnataka, told Al Jazeera. "People want good governance, better roads, hospitals and schools to cater to the downtrodden."