Karnataka polls: Exit polls give Congress the edge, BJP close behind

NEW DELHI: Congress is expected to have a clear edge in Karnataka in the assembly elections held on Wednesday with four exit polls giving it a full majority and some predicting a hung assembly with an advantage to the party. A few exit polls also said that BJP is ahead in the sweepstakes to form the government.

The exit polls, which were released after the polling ended in Karnataka, predicted that Janata Dal-Secular JD(S) would not touch the 37 seats it won in the 2018 polls but will continue to be a strong regional player in the state. If Karnataka throws up a hung assembly, the JD-S could emerge in the role of kingmaker. According to India Today-Axis My India exit poll, Congress is poised to win a comfortable majority with 122-140 seats, BJP will get 62-80 seats, JD(S) 20-25 and others 0-3 seats. A party needs 113 seats for a majority in the 224-member Karnataka assembly. The poll of polls shows an advantage for the Congress with the party poised to win 109 seats, BJP 91 seats and JD-S 23. News24-Today's Chanakya predicted Congress crossing the halfway mark. It said BJP is poised to win 92 seats, Congress, 120 and JD-S 12 seats.

Times Now-ETG poll and India TV-CNX poll also predicted Congress hitting the majority mark. Times Now-ETG said BJP is expected to win 85 seats, Congress 113, JD-S 23 and others three. India TV-CNX poll gave 80-90 seats to BJP, 110-120 to Congress, JD-S 20-24 and 1-3 to others. Republic P-MARQ has predicted that Congress would get a 40 per cent vote share, BJP 36 per cent, JD(S) 17 per cent and seven per cent for independents and others. The poll predicted that no party would get the majority mark in Karnataka with BJP poised to get 85-100 seats, Congress 94-108, JD-S 24-32 and others 2-6 seats. The ABP-C Voter exit poll gave 83-95 seats to BJP, 100-112 to Congress, 21-29 to JD(S) and 2-6 to others.

TV9 Bharatvarsh-Polstrat poll predicted a hung assembly. It said that BJP would win 88-98 seats, Congress 99-109 seats, JD-S 21-26 seats and others 0-4 seats. The Zee News-Matrize exit poll gave a clear advantage to Congress. It predicted BJP getting 79-94 seats, Congress 103-118 seats, JD-S 25-33 seats and others 2-5 seats. The News Nation-CGS exit poll predicted a majority for BJP. It predicted that BJP will win 114 seats, Congress 86, JD-S 21 and others 3. Asianet Suvarna News-Jan Ki Baat also predicted that BJP will be ahead of Congress with a better chance of forming the government. As per the exit poll, BJP is expected to get 94-117 seats while Congress would be close second with 91-106 seats. It said JD(S) is expected to get 14-24 seats, while 0-2 seats would go to other parties. In the 2018 assembly polls, BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats, Congress won 80 seats and JD(S) got 37 seats. The fiercely contested election that saw high-pitch campaigns from the political parties is crucial for both BJP and Congress. BJP is keen to retain the only state it has in southern India to further expand its footprint while Congress is keen to gain momentum for its challenge in the assembly polls later this year and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. An incumbent government has not returned to power in Karnataka after a full term of five years since 1985.