Karnataka election results 2023: Votes are being counted today
The BJP lost its only bastion in the south today, with the Congress winning 137 of the state's 244 seats -- a record in terms of both seats and vote share in 30-plus years. The BJP won 65 and HD Kumaraswamy's JD(S) 19 seats.
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For the Congress, the big challenge will be striking a balance between Siddaramaiah and state party chief DK Shivakumar when one is named for the Chief Minister's post. Both are powerful leaders with strong following, who have projected a united front for the campaign despite being at loggerheads for years.
Even ahead of the declaration of results, differences over the top post cropped up, with state party chief DK Shivakumar reacting strongly to a comment by Mr Siddaramaiah's son that he should occupy the post again. "The High Command will decide," said Mr Shivakumar.
The Congress has called a meeting of its legislature party tomorrow evening and asked all its MLAs to reach Bengaluru. "We will brief the candidates about how to react. The high command will take the decisions," said Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
Congratulating the people of Karnataka and the workers of the party, Congress's Rahul Gandhi said, "The market of hate has been shut, and shops of love have opened". "We have won almost 99% of the seats in the route in which Rahul Gandhi walked (for Bharat Jodo Yatra)," said Mr Kharge, crediting him with the victory.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has resigned. Conceding defeat shortly after noon, he said, "In spite of a lot of efforts put in by the Prime Minister and the BJP workers, we have not been able to make the mark". The party will "take this result in our stride to come back in Lok Sabha elections," added Mr Bommai, whose government had faced massive corruption allegations for the better part of two years.
Janata Dal Secular leader HD Kumaraswamy said, "I am a small party, there is no demand for me...I am hoping for a good development". The JDS was expected to be a kingmaker in case of hung assembly – a possibility a majority of exit polls had predicted.
Karnataka stayed true to its nearly 40-year custom of voting out the incumbent despite a high-pitch campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, its battery of Union ministers and Chief Ministers. PM Modi has held 19 public meetings and six roadshows in the state.
The Karnataka results are expected to boost the Congress ahead of next year's general elections and the assembly polls in three states due later this year. The party is hoping to make a comeback in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. It is also hoping to win back Madhya Pradesh, where its government crashed in 2020 with the defection of Jyotiraditya Scindia and his loyalists.
The results will be crucial for the BJP in terms of next year's national elections. The state accounts for 28 Lok Sabha seats. While the BJP vote share in the assembly polls has not dropped in comparison to 2018, the elections indicate that the party has not been able to make its much-needed breakthrough into the Vokkaliga and the Scheduled Castes and Tribes votes and lost much of Lingayat support.
The Congress gains have hugely cheered the opposition. "The message from Karnataka is that the 'end' of BJP's negative, communal, corrupt, rich-oriented, anti-women-youth, social-divisive, false propaganda, individualistic politics has begun," tweeted Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
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