The Congress party is moving towards a clear majority by maintaining a lead in at least 127 seats in the 224-member Assembly even as the counting of votes is in progress.
The May 10 polls had seen both the national parties seeking a clear majority to avert a hung Assembly and the voters too seem to have made up their mind to give a clear mandate as the ruling BJP is hovering around 69 to 75 seats while the JD(S) has just about managed leads in 22 to 25 seats by noon. The people of Karnataka have once again relied on their wisdom to vote for alternative parties as no ruling party has returned to power since Ramakrishna Hegde government in the 1980s.
The Congress which had won only 80 seats in 2018, is showing the promise of forming the government on its own. The BJP which had bagged 104 in 2018 and formed a government a year later by roping in rebels from rival parties is in for a shocking defeat as the high-voltage campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of star campaigners failed to bring in the winning streak.
Interestingly, the BJP government under Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, has certainly faced anti incumbency like in the states of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, as many sitting ministers like N. Somanna, MTB Nagraj, B Sriramulu, Govind Karjol,Dr Sudhakar, and JC Madhuswamy are trailing. While Bommai has maintained a good lead in Shiggaon (Haveri), the party could not win any of the five other seats in the district.
The JD(S) which had hoped to be the kingmaker had to face a huge disappointment. Former Prime Minister HD Devegowda who toured the Old Mysuru region seeking votes to help his party survive can draw solace from the fact that the party will manage to retain 20-25 seats. The family feud over allotting a ticket in Hassan after Devegowda's elder son HD Revanna's wife Bhavani was hoping to contest on a party ticket while Devegowda's younger son Kumaraswamy was keen on giving the ticket to Swaroop Prakash, son of a former MLA.
After months-long tussle between the brothers, the Devegowda put up a united face and campaigned for Swaroop, the party's official candidate. Swaroop has succeeded in dislodging BJP's sitting MLA Preetham Gowda, who had opened the BJP's account in Hassan, a JD(S) bastion, for the first time in 2018.
The people's mandate is clearly against both the BJP and also a hung verdict as the state has endured unstable coalitions and horse trading hampering development in 2004, 2008 and 2018.
