Karnataka Election Results 2023: Congress’s victory, the second under its new president and ‘bhoomi putra’ of Karnataka Mallikarjun Kharge, comes as a big boost ahead of polls in 5 more states.
The Congress secured a thumping victory on its own in Karnataka after 10 years, winning 136 seats and defeating the BJP in the only state it was in power in southern India. The BJP came a distant second, winning 65 seats, a sharp drop from the 104 seats it won in 2018, while the JD(S), which hoped to play kingmaker, bagged 19 seats.
Congress’s victory, the second under its new president and “bhoomi putra” of Karnataka Mallikarjun Kharge, set off celebrations across the country, with some workers turning up at party offices dressed as Lord Hanuman and chanting “Bajrang Bali ki Jai”.
This comes as BJP’s ploy to raise the pitch in the last stretch of campaigning over the Congress manifesto promising the strictest action against outfits such as the Bajrang Dal to corner the grand old party failed to cut ice with the voters. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi had attacked the Congress over it, calling it an “insult to Hanuman and His devotees”.
The victory will also give the Congress bragging rights as the party tries to cobble together like-minded Opposition parties to form some sort of an anti-BJP front to take on the PM Modi juggernaut in the Lok Sabha election next year.
- The BJP’s vote share slipped from 36.22 in the last assembly election to 35.8 per cent, according to Election Commission of India trends. The Congress’ vote share has gone up from 38.04 per cent to 42.94 per cent.
- Karnataka maintained its 38-year trend of never voting the incumbent party to power since 1985. This is the grand old party’s best performance in Karnataka since 1989, when the Congress won 178 seats.
- The results come as a big boost to the Congress ahead of elections due in five more states this year — Telangana, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
- The Muslim vote, which accounted for nearly 13 per cent of the electorate, seems to have consolidated in favour of Congress.
- The focus for Congress now shifts on who will become the Chief Minister. According to sources, Congress is working out a formula to split the tenure of the Chief Minister between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.
- “I am happy we contested the Karnataka polls without using hate, bad language. We fought the polls with love. In Karnataka, the market of hate (‘nafrat ka bazaar’) has closed down and shops of love (‘mohabbat ki dukaanein’) opened,” said Rahul Gandhi.
Source: https://news.abplive.com/karnataka/karnataka-election-results-2023-congress-wins-136-seats-bjp-65-dk-shivakumar-siddaramaiah-chief-minister-highlights-1602130