Karnataka Election Results: With four hours of vote counting complete, the Congress party appears poised for a simple majority in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly.
The BJP's hopes of overcoming anti-incumbency and winning a second term in power were dashed, as were the JD(S)'s hopes of playing kingmaker in the crucial southern state.
In the midst of jubilant celebrations, Congress workers have been bursting crackers, distributing sweets, and dancing to the beat of drums.
Meanwhile, to prevent poaching attempts by rival parties, the Karnataka Congress has scheduled a legislature party meeting for tomorrow.
BM Nagaraja, the Congress candidate, has emerged victorious in the Siruguppa Assembly constituency.
In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, BJP's MS Somalingappa won the seat, defeating Congress' B Murali Krishna by a margin of 21,271 votes, which accounted for 13.98% of the total votes polled in the constituency. In 2018, BJP had a vote share of 54.25% in the seat.
AS Ponnanna, the Congress leader, has won the Virajpet constituency in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections.
In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, K G Bopaiah of BJP had won the seat by defeating Congress candidate Arun Machaiah CS by a margin of 13,353 votes, which accounted for 8.46% of the total votes polled in the constituency. In 2018, BJP had a vote share of 49.4% in the seat.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's statement appeared to be an admission of defeat as he acknowledged that the BJP's performance in the assembly elections was below expectations.
He further stated that the party leadership will conduct a thorough analysis to identify shortcomings and work towards reorganizing the party before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"We will reassess our strategies and make necessary adjustments at all levels to ensure success in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," added Bommai.
As the Congress party seemed to be heading towards a simple majority in the Karnataka assembly polls, its president DK Shivakumar was seen shedding tears of joy on Saturday. He attributed the party's impressive performance in the elections to the dedication and hard work of its rank-and-file workers.
