If Karnataka goes Modi is gone .

Demonetisation and GST have marred the image of Modi Government. First and foremost reason is its failure to usher in the promised “achhe din” or better days because of a sluggish economy.

The scene might have been better but for the twin blows of demonetisation, which dealt a blow to small businesses, and the shambolic rolling out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which also unsettled the traders and businessmen.

The second reason is the widespread rural distress which eroded the BJP’s influence in Gujarat. As a party essentially of urban lower middle-class areas, the BJP’s connection with the countryside has never been very strong.

Modi is now said to have sought the advice of farming experts to reach out to the cultivators.

To compound the BJP’s problems, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), the Sangh Parivar’s labour wing, has raised the red flag over the “disappointing” Union budget.

The rampages of the cow vigilantes have hit the meat and leather industries and resulted in ageing cows being let loose by their owners to roam the countryside and city streets to forage on their own.

Perhaps the BJP’s only solace at the moment is that its opponents haven’t been able to get their act together.

Karnataka will be the next big electoral battle for the BJP. If it can dislodge the ruling Congress in the state, it will be able to brush aside the party’s setbacks in Gujarat and Rajasthan.