Congress set to win in Karnataka

BANGALORE, Oct 6 (PTI) — The opposition Congress appeared to be surging ahead to a spectacular victory in the Assembly elections in Karnataka, bagging 67 of the 110 seats for which results were announced so far.

The Congress was leading in 17 constituencies, leaving behind the BJP-JD (U) combine which has so far won 29 seats. The combine was leading in six segments.

Janata dal (Secular) headed by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, which had contested 202 of the 224 Assembly seats in the state, has fared miserably, winning only five seats, and leading in two others.

Independents have notched up eight seats and the AIADMK one.

The BJP’s plight was exemplified by the stunning defeat of its state unit president and Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yediyurappa, who lost the Shikaripur seat to the Congress by 7,617 votes. Of the 29 seats bagged by the BJP and JD (U), the former has won 20.

The outcome was marked by two other major upsets-JD (S) state unit president and former Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lost the Chamundeshwari seat and Lok Shakti state unit Chief Jeevaraj Alva Yielded Jayamahal constituency to the Congress.

MUMBAI: Maharashtra could well be on course to a hung assembly with Shiv Sena-BJP combine establishing leads in only 56 of the 146 constituencies where trends were available, even though 11 of the 16 results have gone in their favour.

Trends project that the Congress, debilitated after the exit of strongman of state politics Sharad Pawar, is unexpectedly faring well having forged ahead in 49 constituencies. The Sena was ahead in 33 constituencies, while its electoral ally BJP was leading in 23.

Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) had taken leads in 30 constituencies. The state has a 288-member house.

The victories achieved by Sena (four) and BJP (seven) were mainly in Mumbai and Konkan regions, where the alliance appears all set to again sweep the assembly polls.

The Congress bagged two seats including Colaba in South Mumbai, while Samajwadi Party retained Muslim-dominated Umerkhadi and Nehru Nagar seats. Pappu Kalani, a former TADA detenue, emerged victorious from Ulhasnagar in Thane district.

Chief Minister Narayan Rane was leading in Malwan constituency in Sindhudurg district in Konkan region. The prominent winners were ministers in the outgoing cabinet Prabhakar more and Raj Purohit.

Prominent among the Sena-BJP alliance candidates Chief Minister Narayan Rane (Sena) was leading in his home constituency of Malwan in Sindhudurg district of Konkan region by a margin of 5305 votes over his nearest Congress rival Nandkumar Shridhar Sawant. The BJP winners are Bal Mane (Ratnagiri), Vinay Shridhar Nattu (Guhaghar), Minister of State for Housing Raj Purohit (Mumbadevi), Mr Atul Shah (Khetwadi), Mangal Prabhat Lodha (Malabar Hill), Hemendra Mehta (Borivili), State Revenue Minister Prakash Mehta (Ghatkopar) and haribhau Madhav Jawale (Yawal).

ITANAGAR: The Congress was racing ahead in Arunachal Pradesh winning 25 of the 28 assembly seats results for which were declared so far.

The Nationalist Congress Party won two seats while the Arunachal Congress managed to get one.

The Congress winners include 10 ministers of the Mukut Mithi Ministry and Speaker Chowna Mein. Former Chief Minister and Arunachal Congress chairman Gegong Apang cut a lonely furrow from Tuting-Yiongkiong (ST).

In the 60-member House, four Congress nominees, including the Chief Minister, were elected unopposed.

GANGTOK: Ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) tonight gained an absolute majority winning 17 seats in the 32-member assembly to form a new government in this Himalayan state.

The party was also inching ahead to secure two-third majority as trends of the results indicated. Of the 21 seats, the results of which were declared so far, the SDF won in seventeen seats.

Party president and Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling has not only retained 12 seats but also gained in five other seats to take its tally to 17. According to official sources the party was also leading in six of the ten remaining seats.

The main opposition Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) led by former Chief Minister Nar Bahadur Bhandari has managed to win only five seat so far.