Seems like all of the support I saw on the ground was paid for and arranged by the looks of it! South India is now BJP free in a sense.
My observations on why they lost Karnataka:
1. BJP is heavily invested into the Hindutva principle- this works at the national level, with their attacks and offensive vs Pakistan/China. However, this does not work at the state level. For a local voter, he is hardly bothered over whether they would construct temples and ban beef or not. The latter would be a huge matter in Kerala.
2. Infrastructure- Modi's visit highlighted the fact that BJP worked on infra projects in Karnataka. What one needs to understand is these are undertaken by the Ministry of Surface Transport and NHAI. The local authority have no say so on this matter. Infact, if the state electric/ water supply division needs to carry out maintenance and break off a section of the said road, they need permission from the NHAI.
3. State level issues have always been different than national ones. As a voter, it is possible to have differing thoughts on who should be in charge of the country and state.
4. BJP has worked from a national POV- yes, largely,much more than what Congress did from 2004-2014. However, BJP has ignored state sentiments every where. It works for them in the belts of Uttar Pradesh cause people out there care more about caste and other similar aspects. In a state like Karnataka, the issue are much more compounded and should have been handled with more care.
5. Karnataka, since the early 2000s has always been a swinging state. The anti-incumbency factor is quite prominent here. Post 2004, Kumaraswamy, Yeddiyurappa nd Siddaramaih have all been playing musical chairs( there have been others as well-but these are prominent)
6. BJP never let one leader take centre stage. Gowda, Yeddyurappa, Shettar and Bommai- so many CMs in the last few years. They need local leaders. Else, how will the public resonate with someone.
Final Say:
BJP will lose Maharashtra as well. The above pointers bode well for Maharashtra too. I'd make one more addition - in terms of development, they have ignored Mumbai and Pune. Instead, their area of focus has largely been Vidarbha and Nagpur. This will backfire.