New Delhi: After Mayawati-led BSP played a spoiler in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, Congress is worried whether the 'elephant' would trample its hopes of regaining Karnataka amid a stiff saffron challenge.

The election in Karnataka is not an ordinary one for Congress with many a party leader insisting that a victory in the southern state was crucial for the party and it cannot afford a third successive defeat when a series of Assembly elections are due in the year ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year.

BSP has already turned a 'vote cutter' for the Congress in Gujarat helping Narendra Modi to post his second successive win and has helped the process of its defeat in Himachal Pradesh.

While the BSP came a cropper in Gujarat, it won a single seat in Himachal Pradesh, but increased its vote share significantly.

In Gujarat, Its presence marred the prospects of Congress in some ten Gujarat constituencies while the damage in the hill state caused by BSP was also significant.

Senior BSP leader Gandhi Azad says that Karnataka is a "fertile ground" for his party and it would contest all the seats.

Karnataka has 23 per cent dalits and any mistake on the part of Congress in strategy could be beneficial for Mayawati to make her first major foray in the South, AICC general secretary said.

Source : PTI