Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 10: An estimated 70 per cent of the voters turned out to cast their votes in the single phase elections to the state Assembly in Karnataka on Wednesday and the only southern Indian state in BJP control reported to be heading for a hung House with the state-level JD(S) emerging as the kingmaker.
The exit polls predicted that though it could be a neck-to-neck contest, neither the BJP nor the Congress securing a clear majority on their own and the JD(S) of the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda could become the kingmaker even though the state Congress president DK Shivkumar ruled out any alliance with the JD(S).
The exit polls ahead of the counting of votes on May 13 showed that Karnataka was heading for a hung assembly. While four exit polls give an edge to the Congress, two others give the BJP slight edge over the Congress but five of six exit polls are unanimous in predicting that none of the two major contenders securing a clear majority and the JD(S) expected to win about 25 to 30 seats in the 224-member state Assembly could become the kingmaker.
The majority mark in the 224-seat assembly stands at 113 seats.
Only one exit poll – Zee News Matrize agency – has predicted an upper limit of 118 for the Congress, two others predicted an upper limit of 114 and 117 for the BJP.
News Nation-CGS has predicted that the state’s ruling BJP will cross the majority mark with 114 seats, the Congress will win 86 seats and the JD(S) 21. The Suvarna News-Jan Ki Baat has also given an edge to the BJP, predicting it will emerge as the single largest party with anything between 94 and 117 seats. The Congress, it said, will get 91-106 seats and the JD(S) 14-24 seats.
Four other exit polls are counting on the Congress emerging as the single largest party, slightly ahead of the BJP in the race. The Republic TV-P MARQ has predicted that the BJP will win 85-100 of the 224 assembly seats, the Congress will win 94-108 and the JD(S) 24-32 seats. The TV 9-Bharatvansh-Polstrat predicted 88-98 seats for the BJP, 99-109 seats for the Congress and 21-26 seats for the JD(S). The Zee News Matrize has predicted 79-94 seats for the BJP and 103-118 seats for the Congress and 25-33 seas for the JD(S). ABP News-C Voter are expecting the Congress to win 83-95 seats and the Congress 100 to 112 seats. The JD(S) it expects will win between 21 and 29 seats.
In the run-up to the elections, a large part of the political action in Karnataka was consumed by the layered narratives to woo the Vokkaligas, the dominant land-owning community in the Old Mysore region where the Janata Dal (Secular) and its traditional rival Congress rule the roost.
While the ruling BJP, riding on the Narendra Modi juggernaut, wants to break the 38-year jinx and retain its southern citadel, the Congress is seeking to wrest power to give the party much-needed elbow room and momentum to position itself as the main opposition player in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress has also moved the Election Commission of India (ECI) to complain against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for violating the ‘silence period’ under the model code of conduct by releasing a video appeal to the voters of Karnataka long after campaigning ended at 5 p.m. on Monday.
Prime Minister Modi had posted a video appeal on his Twitter handle on Tuesday morning in which he said that Karnataka could make him achieve his mission to make India a developed nation and the third largest economy in the world by voting in a BJP government.
In a lengthy complaint to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Congress general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala asked the poll panel whether it would remain a “mute and helpless spectator” or fulfil its constitutional duty and act against Modi.
Posting the complaint on his twitter handle, Surjewala said the case would be a ‘litmus test’ for the EC’s “capacity and willingness to enforce laws.” Forty-eight hours before the end of polling are considered the silence period.
Interestingly, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who had addressed over 40 public meetings and press conferences since March 20, also issued a video appeal on his Twitter handle on Tuesday morning. In his tweet, along with the video, Kharge said as the son of Karnataka, he was asking the voters to “bless his party by choosing Congress’ election symbol of the hand.”
The Congress leaders claimed that while its campaign gave a vision for the future, the BJP tried to “distort and distract from key issues.” “The Congress party in Karnataka has driven a positive, development-centric campaign with a vision to uplift all Kannadigas. Alternatively, the BJP’s campaign has only aimed to distract, divide and deceive the people,” tweeted Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh.
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