In the end, the vote of no-confidence on July 23rd that brought down the government of Karnataka state came as an act of mercy. Despite three postponements and countless impassioned speeches, only 99 of the assembly's 225 members supported the chief minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy. This month 16 members of his coalition government jumped ship, soon after Na-rendra Modi's crushing victory in national elections. They "defected", in Indian political argot, by resigning—ditching their comrades in the Congress party and Mr Kumaraswamy's provincial party, in favour of Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp). The party's national dominance has not lessened its determination to seize further power at the state level.
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