Former Karnataka chief minister and leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah expressed confidence that the Congress will win more than 130 seats in the ongoing Assembly elections. Speaking to the media in Varuna on Wednesday, May 10, he said, “I have been constantly saying, after observing the people of Karnataka, the Congress party will get 130 plus seats. It may go up to 150 seats also.”
Election is underway in 58,545 polling stations in the state. The total number of voters are 5.30 crore, among which 2.66 crore are male and 2.63 are female voters. There are 4,927 transgender persons who are eligible to vote in this election.
The Karnataka Assembly has 224 seats, and a party or coalition needs to cross the halfway mark of 112 to form the government. In 2018, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 104 seats, Congress 78 seats and JD(S) 37 seats. After bye-elections in 2019, the BJP walked away with Congress and JD(S) legislators and the party’s numbers in the Assembly increased to 120, while the Congress was reduced to 69 and JD(S) 32.
This time, the Congress campaign has been focussed on the failings of the incumbent BJP. The BJP has sought to counter this by invoking the personality of the Prime Minister and the power of ‘double engine’ government. The JD (S) meanwhile, has been appealing for a rejection of both national parties.