National Desk, 13 May: Congress has passed the halfway point in the Karnataka assembly elections and is currently in the lead, according to early trends of results. The Congress appeared to have increased their margin with an huge percent advantage over the in power BJP. Congress is leading with 134 seats.
The Janata Dal (Secular) is in second place with 29 seats, followed by the BJP with 73, the Congress with 134, the Independents with 3 and Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha with one apiece.
219 of the state’s 224 seats had trends available. The vote share for the Congress is 43.1%, compared to the BJP’s 36.2% and the JD(S)’s 12.8%. In assembly, there are 113 halfway mark. At 8 am, voting began with high levels of security being enforced throughout the state.
Meanwhile, there were triumphant celebrations at the Delhi headquarters of the Congress. While the ballots were being counted for the elections in Karnataka, former chief minister of Karnataka and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy visited a temple in Bengaluru. A leader in the Congress Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also went to a Lord Hanuman shrine in Shimla.
It should be emphasised that the exit polls had indicated a hung legislature with some indicating a majority return for Congress. Janata Dal (Secular) can act as a kingmaker if there is hung assembly.
On Saturday, Kumaraswamy stated that he has not been contacted on the formation of the government in the event of a cliffhanger and expressed his hope for a strong performance.
“In the next 2-3 hours, it will become clear. Exit polls show that the two national parties will score in a big way. The polls have given 30-32 seats to JD(S). I am a small party, there is no demand for me…I am hoping for a good development,” he said.
“No one has contacted me till now. Let us see the final results first. According to the exit polls, there is no need for options. Let us see,” the JD(S) leader added.
The exit polls which were published after voting in Karnataka was completed indicated that Janata Dal-Secular JD(S) would hold onto the 37 seats it won in the previous election while also being a significant regional force in the state. Both the BJP and Congress are dependent on the hotly contested election that saw high-pitched campaigns from the political parties.