Karnataka election results: Congress wins big; BJP concedes defeat

Chandigarh, May 13

A resurgent Congress appeared headed for a comfortable majority in Karnataka on Saturday and on course to wresting power from the BJP in its lone southern citadel which seems to have been hit by anti-incumbency.

According to the latest Election Commission statistics, the M Mallikarjun Kharge-led party won 10 seats and was leading in 136 more segments, well above the 113-mark needed for a simple majority in the 224-member House.

Elections were held on May 10 and counting of polled votes took place on Saturday.

The BJP, which won 104 seats in the previous Assembly election, was ahead on over 60 seats after winning four, and the JD(S), which was expected to play a key role in the event of a hung verdict, came out victorious on one seat and was leading in 19 others. Others were leading in four segments.

The BJP could not make a mark in spite of the efforts by the party’s top brass, outgoing Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai acknowledged.