Karnataka Assembly election results 2023: Congress sweeps polls, routing BJP
What's the story
The vote counting for the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections has nearly concluded.
The Congress emerged as the single-largest party on Saturday, dashing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s hopes of retaining power.
It won 135 seats (leading in one)—comfortably crossing the halfway mark (113)—while the BJP secured 65 and the Janata Dal (Secular) was restricted to 19, per the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Twitter Post
Celebrations began at Congress headquarters earlier on Saturday
#WATCH | Celebrations underway at national headquarters of Congress party in New Delhi as counting of votes gets underway for #KarnatakaPolls. pic.twitter.com/e0eGObhLh3
— ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023
Information
Counting held at 36 centers
The counting of votes in Karnataka was held at 36 centers. It had been a three-way contest between the outgoing CM Basavaraj Bommai's BJP government, the Congress led by Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, and HD Deve Gowda's JD(S).
Leaders
Who all won major seats
According to India Today, Karnataka Congress chief Shivakumar won over BJP candidate R Ashoka with a massive margin of more than 1.2 lakh votes in the Kanakapura constituency.
Prominent BJP politician and Lingayat leader BS Yediyurappa's son, BY Vijayendra, emerged victorious in the Shikaripura seat.
On the other hand, the Kalyan Rajya Pragathi Paksha (KRPP)'s Janardhan Reddy also won in the Gangavathi constituency.
Details
Breakdown of partywise results
As per the latest ECI data, of the 224 Assembly seats, the Congress won 135 (leading in one) seats with a vote share of nearly 43%.
The BJP secured 65 seats with a 36% vote share, while the JD(S) bagged 19 seats, securing 13.29% of votes.
While two independent candidates emerged victorious, the KRPP and the Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha (SKP) got one seat each.
Divide
Jagadish Shettar lost, Priyank Kharge won
Jagadish Shettar, a BJP defector who has contested on a Congress ticket, has lost in the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency.
In Chittapur, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's son, Priyank Kharge, won against his BJP rival, Manikanta Rathod, by a margin of 13,638 votes.
Former CM and Congress leader Siddaramaiah won the Varuna seat by defeating BJP candidate V Somanna by a margin of over 46,000 votes.
Information
BJP clinches Bengaluru South; Congress wins Chamarajanagar
BJP candidate M Krishnappa won in Bengaluru South, but the party's Sunil B Naik lost to Congress's Mankal Vaidya in Bhatkal. On the other hand, Congress candidates C Puttarangashetty and BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan have emerged victorious in Chamarajanagar and Chamarajpet, respectively.