Karnataka gears up for poll verdict
BENGALURU: Roughly 38 million votes across 224 seats in Karnataka will be counted on Saturday, bringing the curtain down on a high-stakes election season that saw pitched political battles and the southern state’s highest turnout.
With hours to go for the counting of votes, all three major parties – the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) – went into a huddle.
The BJP is looking to retain power in the only southern state under its control but the exit polls give an edge to the Congress. In a tight election, the JD(S) could emerge kingmaker, like it did in 2018. For nearly four decades, the state has voted out the incumbent.
BJP minister R Ashoka said that the party will cross the majority and had an alternative plan if it did not do so. “Our Plan B is different. We are not in a hurry. We will see the result and decide,” the minister said, adding that the final decision will be made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah.
In another interview, he said government formation was the party’s objective. “Don’t ask how or what we will do. We will definitely win and get a majority. But even if it is a hung assembly, we will form the government…we have already done this twice in Karnataka,” the minister added.
A senior BJP official said the party held a meeting in Bengaluru and requested the leadership for Shah to fly down to Bengaluru on Saturday evening if no party got a majority.
“There is a sense that no party would get the majority. So, a plan is being devised to tackle such a situation. The decision on this will be made by the central leadership, the state leadership doesn’t have a big role here,” said the official, requesting anonymity.
The Congress strategy session focussed on keeping its lawmakers together after the election results were announced.
Hectic parleys were on at Congress president M Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in Bengaluru, with general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, state unit chief D K Shivakumar and former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara in attendance, among others.