The much-awaited vote counting day for the Karnataka 2023 Assembly elections is here. With postal ballots being counted first, early trends show that as of 9.30 am, Congress is leading in 114 constituencies, while the BJP is leading in 83, and the Janata Dal (Secular) in 24 and independents in three seats, Public TV reported.
Former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy is trailing in Channapatna with BJP’s CP Yogeshwar leading in the second round. Mining baron, who was accused of large-scale corruption, Gali Janardhana Reddy, is leading in Gangavathi. BJP ministers B Sriramulu, K Sudhakar, and CT Ravi are trailing in Ballari, Chikkaballapura and Chikkamagalur respectively, according to Public TV.
Congress sitting MLA from Yamakanmardi, Satish Jarkiholi is leading from the segment, while his brother Ramesh Jarkiholi from BJP is trailing in Gokak, TV9 reported. Ramesh Jarkiholi rose to infamy when he orchestrated a coup to bring the Congress-JD(S) coalition government down in 2019.
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Former Congress Minister MB Patil leading in Babaleshwar. The leader was defeated in the 2018 elections owing to his support for a separate Lingayat religion.
In Bengaluru, Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavali’s wife Manjula Limbavi is trailing. Former Congress Minister Krishna Byre Gowda is leading in Byatarayanapura, while three-time Congress MLA, NA Harris is trailing in Shanti Nagar, while the party’s Zameer Ahmed Khan is leading in Chamarajpet. BJP MLA Muniratna, who had defected from Congress to BJP in 2019, is leading in Rajarajeshwari Nagar and his peer R Ashoka is leading in Padmanabhanagar but trailing in Kanakapura. In a turn of tide, five-time Congress MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao is trailing in Gandhinagar.
With 224 seats in the Karnataka Assembly, a party needs 113 seats to form the government. The 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections threw up a fractured mandate, with the BJP emerging the single largest party, winning 104 seats. The Congress won 78 seats while the JD(S) picked up 37 seats. BS Yediyurappa was invited to form the government and was sworn in as Chief Minister. But he stepped down three days later, just before the trust vote. The Congress and JD(S) came together to form the coalition government with HD Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister.
This time, the Congress campaign was focussed on the failings of the incumbent BJP. The BJP sought to counter this by invoking the personality of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the power of ‘double engine’ government. The JD(S), meanwhile, appealed for a rejection of both national parties.