Counting of Votes begins across Karnataka on 13th of May 2023 by 8.00 am

According to the latest updates the parties position are given below: 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday Congratulated the Congress for the victory in the Karnataka Assembly Assembly elections 2023.

"Congratulations to the Congress Party for their victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls. My best wishes to them in fulfilling people’s aspirations," the PM tweeted.

"I thank all those who have supported us in the Karnataka elections. I appreciate the hardwork of BJP Karyakartas. We shall serve Karnataka with even more vigour in the times to come," he added.

Meanwhile, the Congress returned to power on its own in Karnataka after 10 years, knocking the BJP off its only southern perch on Saturday as voters decisively backed the grand old party desperately seeking electoral revival ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday resigned as Karnataka chief minister, hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party lost the assembly elections. "I have tendered my resignation and it has been accepted," the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said after tendering his resignation to Karnataka governor Thawar Chand Gehlot at the Raj Bhavan.

The saffron party was voted out of its only bastion in southern India, with the Congress registering a resounding victory by winning 136 out of 224 assembly seats. The defeat came despite a high-decibel poll campaign headlined by BJP bigwigs including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda in the state.

As the Congress demonstrated a "massive victory" against the ruling BJP in the Karnataka Assembly elections, some unidentified people shouted slogans "Pakistan Zindabad" outside a counting centre in Tilakvadi, Belagavi.

According to the reports, those who shouted pro-Pakistan slogans were allegedly supporters of the grand old party. The incident under Tilakvadi police station where some "excited" supporters shouted slogans "anti-national" slogans when Congress candidates secured victory against the saffron party. 

Meanwhile, as the video went viral on social media platforms, members of Hindu organisations staged a protest outside the police demanding strict action against the accused. Police have registered an FIR against the unidentified people under IPC section 153 and started the investigation.

The Congress party registered a sweeping victory in Karnataka and marked its way for return to power while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) faced a setback, losing the assembly elections and failing to break the 38-year-old jinx. The grand old party won 136 seats in the 224-member assembly while the BJP and Janata Dal (Secular) grabbed 65 and 19 seats. The Congress party banked upon its 5 guarantees to the people whereas the BJP fought on its agenda of development, and tried to gain mileage on issues such as Bajrang Dal, scrapping 4 per cent Muslim reservation among others.   

Making an emotional appeal to voters in his home turf on the last day of campaigning, Mallikarjun Kharge had asked them to take pride in the fact that he as a "bhoomi putra" of Karnataka had been made AICC president, and sought a win for the Congress in that name.

Many party leaders credit Khage for the win mainly for camping in the state and mentoring the party at every level in the run-up to polls.

"I want to tell (PM Narendra) Modi now that I'm the 'bhoomi putra' (son of the soil) of Karnataka and Gulbarga (Kalaburagi). The right you have in Gujarat, I have here and I should get it. You have done nothing for my place, but I'm asking after working for my region. What have you done to seek votes here?" Kharge said addressing a campaign rally in Kalaburagi earlier this week.

Kolkata: The Karnataka electoral results are the “beginning of the end” for BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed on Saturday.

Banerjee also asserted the moral of the Karnataka assembly poll results is that people “want plurality” and that “no central design to dominate” can repress them.

Congratulating people in Karnataka for their mandate in favour of change, the TMC supremo said that “brute authoritarian and majoritarian” politics has been vanquished.

She forecast that the safforn party would lose in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, too, where it faces off with the Congress, which steamrolled the BJP in Karnataka in results announced on Saturday.

Hubballi: Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who contested on a Congress ticket after the BJP denied him a nomination for the Assembly polls, was defeated in the Hubballi-Dharwad (Central) seat by a margin of 34,289 votes.

The BJP’s Mahesh Tenginakai, a debutant in electoral politics, defeated Shettar who is a six-time MLA. The former chief minister had quit the BJP on April 16 and resigned as Hubli-Dharwad (Central) MLA after being denied a ticket for the assembly elections.

Shettar got 60,775 votes, while Tenginkai bagged 95,064 votes in the high-stake battle. JD(S) candidate Siddalingeshgowda Mahanthavadeyar was in third place with 513 votes. As many as 1,251 NOTA votes were cast in the seat.

Karnataka elections 2023 result saw the defeat of BJP candidate and Karnataka’s school education minister BC Nagesh was defeated by Congress candidate K Shadakshari in Tumkur’s Tiptur seat.

Being the education minister, Nagesh was the state government’s face when it took the stance against young Muslim women wearing hijab in school. He was also a main force behind the saffronization of textbooks, and he was only forced to back down due to heavy criticism from the opposition, Kannada organisations, and civil society.

Shadakshari of the Congress party won the seat by a margin of 17,652 votes. The INC candidate received 46.13% of the vote at 71,999 votes, defeating Nagesh, who received 34.82% of the vote at 54,347 votes.

Bengaluru/New Delhi: The Congress was poised to win power in Karnataka, ousting the BJP from its only southern perch on Saturday in a boost to the grand old party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

As results from the May 10 elections made the BJP’s defeat increasingly apparent, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai virtually conceded defeat and said the party had not been able to make the mark “in spite of a lot of effort put in by everyone, including the prime minister and workers of the party".

The Congress was winning or leading in 136 of the 224 assembly seats in the state, comfortably over the magic number of 113, and the BJP in 64, according to latest trends on the Election Commission website. The JD-S, which was hoping to be kingmaker, was leading in 20 seats.

With a much-needed victory tantalisingly close in the crucial southern state, celebrations broke out at the opposition Congress headquarters in Bengaluru and Delhi as party workers danced to drumbeats and burst firecrackers.

“This is the victory of ‘janata janardhan’,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on the party’s performance in his home state.

“All our leaders have worked unitedly and people have voted for our guarantees,” Kharge added. It was a bitterly contested, often vitriolic election campaign punctuated by Bajrang Dal, Bajrang Bali, corruption and intense debates on the state government scrapping 4 per cent reservation for OBC Muslims and issues such as the hijab.

For the Congress, desperately looking to reverse its electoral fortunes and position itself as the main opposition player in 2024, this was the moment they had been waiting for.

“This result in Karnataka elections will be a stepping stone for Congress victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” senior leader Siddaramaiah, who could be the state’s next chief minister, told reporters.

“I hope Rahul Gandhi will become the country's prime minister in 2024,” he added. KPCC president D K Shivakumar, who is the other contender for the chief minister’s post, was equally effusive in his praise of the Gandhi family.

“I can't forget Sonia Gandhi visiting me after the BJP people jailed me,” an emotional Shivakumar told reporters, adding that he had told the Gandhi family and Kharge that he would deliver Karnataka to them.

Attacking the Basavaraj Bommai-led administration months before the elections, the Congress alleged that it was a "40 per cent commission" government. It also announced five key pre-poll guarantees -- including 200 units of free power and 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household -- and said it would approve them in its first cabinet meeting if voted to power.

Besides the corruption plank and its guarantees, what also worked in the Congress’ favour was the Muslim vote, which accounted for nearly 13 per cent of the electorate, party leaders said.

“The Bharat Jodo Yatra made a lot of difference,” added party leader Shama Mohammed, referring to the Kanyakumari to Kashmir campaign headed by Rahul Gandhi who walked some 3,000 km over three months.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh agreed.

"The Bharat Jodo Yatra was the Sanjeevini for the party. It energised the organisation and instilled a deep sense of unity and solidarity among leaders and workers," Ramesh told PTI.

As the Congress savoured its moment, BJP leaders, who had been hoping to break a 38-year jinx of Karnataka not voting an incumbent to power, were contemplative in defeat. "We will do a detailed analysis as the results conclude. We will take these results in our stride and try to reorganise the party for next year's Lok Sabha elections," Bommai said.

The BJP’s vote share slipped from 36.22 in the last assembly election to 35.7 per cent, according to Election Commission of India trends. The Congress’ vote share has gone up from 38.04 per cent to a possible 43 per cent. The gains perhaps from the JD-S - the party’s vote share came down 18.36 per cent to 13.3 per cent, according to the trends.

Hoping for a win that would make his party a key player come government formation, JD-S leader and also former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy visited the Shri Basaveshwara Gayatri temple to offer prayers.

Counting for the elections - which witnessed a record turnout of 73.19 per cent - began at 8 am across 36 centres. Elaborate security arrangements were made across the state, particularly in and around the counting centres, to avoid any untoward incidents, official sources said.

Most exit polls had predicted a tight contest between the Congress and BJP. Several pollsters gave an edge to the Congress over the ruling BJP, while indicating the possibility of a hung assembly.

"A government with full majority" was the strong pitch of leaders of all political parties during the high-decibel, no holds barred campaigning that ended on Monday.

The stress was on a clear mandate to form a strong and stable government, unlike 2018 when BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats. The Congress had 80 seats and JD-S 37. There was also one independent member, while the BSP and Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janatha Party (KPJP) had one seat each.

With no party getting a clear majority, the Congress and JD-S tried to forge an alliance. BJP’s B S Yediyurappa staked claim and formed the government. However, it was dissolved within three days, ahead of a trust vote, as the saffron party strongman was unable to muster the numbers.

Subsequently, the Congress and JD-S alliance formed the government with Kumaraswamy as chief minister. But the wobbly dispensation collapsed in 14 months, triggered by the resignation of 17 ruling coalition legislators who then defected to the BJP.

This enabled the BJP's return to power.

In the outgoing Assembly, the ruling BJP has 116 MLAs, followed by the Congress 69, JD-S 29, BSP one, independents two, speaker one and vacant six (following deaths and resignations to join other parties ahead of the polls). 

Bengaluru: The ruling BJP in Karnataka has suffered a massive drubbing with Congress getting getting a landslide in the Assembly election result on Saturday. Many top BJP leaders have lost the election which concluded on May 10.

Here is a list of BJP ministers who lost and won in the election.

Loser list is given below:

1) Govind Karajola (Irrigation Minister)

2) B. Sriramulu (Minister of Transport)

3) V Somanna (Minister of Infrastructure Development)

4)J. C. Madhu Swamy (Law Minister)

5) Murgesh Nirani (Industry Minister

6) BC Patil (Agriculture Minister)

7) K Sudhakar (Health Minister)

8) MTB Nagaraj (Small Scale Industries Minister)

9) KC Narayanagowda (Sports Minister)

10) BC Nagesh (Primary and Secondary Ecucation Minister)

11) Shankar Patil (Textile Minister)

Winners

1) Araga Jnanendra (Home Minister)

2) CN Ashwathanarayana (Science & Technology Minister)

3) CC Patil (PWD MInister)

4) Prabhu Chauhan (Animal Husbandry)

5) ST Somshekher (MoS Co-Operation)

6) Byrati Basavaraj (Minister of Urban Development)

7) K Gopalaiah (Excise Minister)

8) Shashikala jolle (Haj and Wakf)

9) Sunil Kumar (Culture Minister)

10) Munirathna Naidu (Horticulture and Planning)

11) Arbail Shivaram Hebbar (Labour Minister)

Bengaluru: In a shock to former PM HD Deve Gowda‘s family, his grandson and JD-S candidated Nikhil Kumaraswamy lost the Ramnagar seat to Congress candidate H.A. Iqbal Hussain.

Hussain polled 72,898 votes and Kumaraswamy secured 61,692 votes. BJP candidate Gautham Gowda managed to get only 10,870 votes. This is the second defeat for Kumaraswamy. His mother Anita Kumaraswamy represented the seat earlier.

Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar had appealed to the voters to support his party candidate as Nikhil Kumaraswamy can get opportunities in future.

Conceding the defeat, his father and former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy stated that he will accept the victory and defeat in the same spirit.

H.D. Kumaraswamy won against the BJP’s C.P. Yogeshwar in Channapatna.

Congress has established a comfortable lead over BJP in Karnataka Assembly elections.  As per the latest trends available, Congress is leading in 28 seats followed by BJP in 16 seats. JD(S) is on third spot with 3 seats.

177 results have been declared so far. Congress has bagged 110 seats, while that of BJP has 47, JD(S) 17 and Others 3. Karnataka Congress Legislature party will meet tomorrow in Bengaluru.

Counting of votes for Karnataka Assembly elections is progressing peacefully amid tight security at 36 centres across the State. Polling for 224 Assembly seats was held on Wednesday. The State registered a record turnout of 73.19 percent in the 10th of May polling. A total of 2,615 candidates were in the fray for 224 assembly constituencies.

Among the prominent candidates, Chief Minister and BJP candidate Basavaraj Bommai is leading in Shiggaon. BJP candidate Vijendra Yediyurappa is leading in Shikaripura constituency. Congress candidate and Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is leading in Varuna while DK Shivakumar of Congress is leading Kanakpura. Priyank Kharge of Congress is leading in Chittapur. Jagadish Shettar of Congress is trailing in Hubbali - Dharwad Central seat.

HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S) is leading in Channapatna Assembly seat, while C T Ravi of BJP is trailing in Chikmagalur. Ramesh Jarkiholi of BJP is leading in Gokak.

In the outgoing Assembly, ruling BJP had 116 MLAs, followed by Congress 69, JD(S) 29, BSP 1 and Independents 2 seats. 

Bengaluru: Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar got emotional on Saturday After his party's comfortable victory in state Assembly elections.

"All our leaders and party workers worked hard. People have expressed faith in us. The leaders have supported us and it is a collective leadership. I had assured Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi that I will deliver Karnataka. I can't forget Sonia Gandhi coming to meet me in jail when these BJP people put me in jail. So, I rather chose to be in jail than having been in a office," said DK Shivakumar.

I thank all my leaders in the state including Mr Siddharamaiah, party members and booth level workers,' the Congress leader added as tears rolled down his eye.

The latest results shows that Congress and its alliance have won 35 seats, BJP won 10 seats and JD(S) won two seats and others won one seat. 

The BJP has not been able to make the mark, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Saturday as the Congress was striding towards victory in the state assembly elections.

According to the latest trends available on the Election Commission website, the Congress is leading in 127 of the 224 assembly seats in the state, while the BJP is ahead in 68. The JD-S is leading in 22 seats. 

"We have not been able to make the mark, in spite of a lot of effort put in by everyone, including the prime minister (Narendra Modi) and workers of the party," Bommai said.

Bengaluru: Mining baron turned politician Janardhana Reddy, who launched his own Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP), was leading in Gangawathy constituency in Koppal district.

Reddy has secured 25,585 votes whereas his closest rival Iqbal Ansari of Congress party polled 19,616 votes. Paranna Ishwarappa Munavalli of BJP polled 11,402 votes. Reddy was leading by 5,969 votes.

Reddy’s wife Gali Lakshmi Aruna had secured 13,653 votes in Bellary city segment.

Here, Somashekara Reddy, brother of Janardhana Reddy is the BJP contestant.

Somashekar Reddy was trailing at third position. He has so far polled 8,920 votes.

Congress candidate Nara Bharath Reddy was leading with 18,854 votes.

The latest trends shows that Congress is leading on 125 seats, BJP on 69 seats and JD(S) 24 seats and finally Independent is leading on 6 seats. 

So Congress will come to power by getting over 120 seats on its own strength," the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly told reporters."I had been saying let Narendra Modi or Amit Shah or J P Nadda come how many ever times they want to the state (but) that will have no impact on the voters of Karnataka because people are fed up with BJP, their corruption, maladministration and their anti-people politics," he said. 

As the counting began for 224 member assembly polls, the Congress headquarters in the National capital wore a festive look with party workers also performing a pooja.

The counting for the Karnataka Assembly began at 8 am and soon after, Congress workers were seen in festive mood as they danced to bhangra tunes at the party headquarters with dhol and nagaras. Party leaders also performed special pooja of Lord Hanuman outside the party headquarters wishing for its victory. 

They also raised slogans for party's victory in Karnataka Assembly polls and for party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

The latest trends shows that Congress is leading on 117 seats, BJP 71 seats, JD9S) on 29 seats while others on 7 seats

Bengaluru: Buoyed by the reports of “being very close to the seat of power in Karnataka”, the Congress camp witnessed hectic activities on Friday, a day ahead of the announcement of the poll results.

Meanwhile, sources revealed that the high command is ready with a ’50:50 formula’ for the post of Chief Minister.

According to sources, Opposition leader Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar are the prominent contenders for the post of the Chief Minister.

Considering the intense competition between the two, Congress high command has come up with a 50:50 formula to avoid unnecessary confusion.

Though, the tradition of the Congress is to give the power to one who is in-charge of the party, this time exception is being made because of Siddaramaiah.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar camps are already busy getting the support of future MLAs across the state.

The requests are made to them to extend their support.

Former deputy chief minister and senior Dalit leader G. Parameshwara has met AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in Bengaluru and held talks.

After the meeting, Parameshwara claimed that he had not discussed anything about the CM’s post with Kharge. “I will not create confusion by talking about this matter. The party high command will decide who is going to be the future CM.”

On the other hand, senior Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa said a claim will be made for a Lingayat as CM if Lingayat candidates get elected in more numbers. The Congress party has given 51 tickets to Lingayat community candidates.

Counting for 224 constituencies began at 8 am in what is expected to be a crucial election ahead of next year's Lok Sabha polls. Early trends showed the Congress party gaining lead in over 110 seats, while the ruling BJP lead in over 75 seats.

Bommai gains massive lead in Shiggaon, DKS en-route to retain Kanakapura seat, Siddaramaiah leads in Varuna

The counting of votes for Chittapur, Sedam, Chincholi and Gulbarga Rural constituencies falling under Yadgir district has begun. 

As per ECI, Congress leads in 85 seats, BJP in 62 seats while the JDS is leading in 18 seats. Independents leading in 2 seats.

According to the latest trends the Congress is leading in 118 seats and BJP on 75 seats, JD(S) on 26 seats. and other on five seats. 

Bengaluru: The process of counting of votes was underway in Karnataka on Saturday. The strong rooms were opened at 7 a.m., and the officials began counting from 8 a.m. amid elaborate security arrangements.

The counting was taking place in 36 centres at district headquarters.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai visited the Hanuman temple and offered prayers before the counting process began in Hubballi.

The authorities have clamped curfew orders in the capital city Bengaluru and communally sensitive Dakshina Kannada district to avoid untoward incidents and maintain law and order situation.

The election results are crucial for the national political parties BJP, Congress and also for JD(S). The elections are dubbed as the semi-finals and set the tone for the Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be held in 2024. The exit polls have predicted that the Congress party would emerge as the single largest party and also indicated a hung Assembly.

The JD(S) has already sent feelers for the national parties and sources claimed that the national parties have also reached out to the JD(S) leaders. The intense competition and campaigning for the seat of power in Karnataka by Congress, BJP and JD(S) has raised the curiosity all over the country over results.

BJP is still claiming that it would attain a majority as per its reports from booth level workers and wants to create history as no party has returned to power in the state since 1985 in Karnataka. Congress is brimming with confidence and Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar has announced that the party would comfortably win 141 seats. The JD(S) is hoping to win 30 to 40 seats. The magic number is 113 in the 224-member state legislature.

The intense competition has led to the possibility of horse-trading and national parties are said to be readying for poaching MLA’s from the rival camps, according to sources. The BJP is ready for ‘Operation Lotus’, while Congress is also ready to go for a ‘reverse operation’. JD(S) is busy keeping its flock together and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda is personally keeping in touch with candidates.

Statement by Minister for Revenue R. Ashoka that no matter how many seats BJP will win, it will form the government and MLC Lakhan Jarkiholi, brother of former minister Ramesh Jarkiholi that 20 elected candidates from Congress will resign have stirred controversy and led to many speculations.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) are hoping to make it to the Karnataka legislature for the first time.

The fate of 2,163 candidates seeking election who are in fray is sealed in the ballot boxes.

Among 2,613 candidates, 2,427 are men and 185 are women. One candidate is in the other category.