Exit poll predictions turn heat on K’taka govt
BENGALURU: The voting was for the Lok Sabha polls. But Karnataka's Congress-janata Dal Secular coalition government is feeling the heat after exit polls indicated that the BJP and allies were all set to come back to power in the centre. The exit polls also indicated the BJP would get at least 20 of the 28 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
BS Yeddyurappa, who was the first BJP Chief Minister in Karnataka and now the state party president, had always predicted that his party would win at least 22 seats.
"We are expecting more than 300 seats in the Lok Sabha and in Karnataka, minimum 20 to 22 seats," NDTV quoted him as saying. "Modi's image Former PM and JD (S) Chief HD Deve Gowda with his son and Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy (L) offer prayers to Goddess Padmavati
is day by day going up. That is the main reason for winning more than 300 seats. Modi said so and exit polls also said so -100% in Karnataka. Also we are going to win over 22 seats. And in both by-elections, we are going to win," he added.
Yeddyurappa was referring to two by-polls held on May 19 -- to Chincholi and Kundgol assembly seats in north Karnataka. Chincholi became vacant after lawmaker Umesh Jadhav quit the Congress to join the BJP just ahead of elections. He was rewarded with the ticket for the Kalaburagi Lok Sabha seat, facing Congress veteran, Mallikarjun Kharge.
Kundgol saw the death of its Congress lawmaker, minister C S Shivali. His wife, Kusumavathi, has been given the ticket to take on the BJP'S SI Chikkanagowdar. In the backdrop of friction between the Congress-jds ruling coalition in the state, the result in these seats could be interesting if the BJP manages to win them both - and narrow the gap between its numbers and those of the coalition.