The Congress is striding forward with leads in 124 seats while the BJP was ahead in 70 in Karnataka as of 12.25 p.m., according to Election Commission of India trends, as votes were counted on May 13 for an election widely seen as a litmus test for both parties ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls.
Also Read | Karnataka election results live
Of the 41 Assembly segments spread across 7 districts of Kalyana Karnataka region, Congress is leading in 25 segments and the BJP is leading in 10 segments. While the JDS leads in 4 segments, Independent candidates have taken a lead in 2 segments.
Of the six segments in Bidar district, BJP has taken a lead in three, Congress in two and JDS in one segment.
Of the nine segments in Kalaburagi district, BJP and Congress are leading in four segments ach and an Independent candidate is leading in one segment.
Of the four constituencies in Yadgir district, Congress has taken the lead in three and JDS in one. Of the seven segments in Raichur, Congress is leading in four, BJP in two and JDS in one segment.
Of the five segments in Koppal, Congress is leading in four and BJP in one segment. Of the five segments in Vijayanagara district, Congress has taken the lead in three, while JDS and Independent candidates are leading in one each. Congress has taken the lead in all the five segments in Ballari.
Congress asks all its MLAs to reach Bengaluru
With the Congress leading in the counting of votes for Karnataka Assembly polls, the party has asked all its MLAs to reach Bengaluru today, sources said on May 13.
Special arrangements have also been made in the remote areas of the State to take them to Bengaluru and observers have also been appointed to do this exercise, party sources said.
Congress leading decisively in three regions of the State
A regional break-up of the election results in Karnataka showed that the Congress party has increased its vote shares across all five regions but has decisively captured three of them.
In the Mumbai/Kittur Karnataka and Central Karnataka region especially, the Congress is leading in 40 of the 62 seats with a 44.9% vote share, up by a whopping 6 % points and 20 seats, compared to the 2018 assembly elections, while the BJP’s vote share fell to 39.1% and its seats down by 21 compared to 2018. Clearly, the high-profile defections of leaders such as Jagadish Shetter and Laxman Savadi has helped the Congress breach the Lingayat stronghold of the BJP.
The Congress also managed to fare well in South Karnataka and Malnad region (including the Old Mysuru region) with the party leading in 39 seats - up by 18 compared to 2018 with a 40.4% vote share (up by 6.2 % points), helped largely by the fall in the regional hegemon JD(S)’s vote share (7.5% points), contributing to leads only in 19 seats for the latter. The BJP also did marginally better in this region but it is in line to bag only 12 seats.
The BJP performed strongly in the Coastal Karnataka region (albeit with a total of only 18 seats). The BJP is leading in 14 of these seats with a solid vote share of 49.1%, much higher than its overall 36% share in the State and also trumping the Congress’ 42.7% and leads in four seats. The BJP was also ahead of the Congress in vote share terms in the Bengaluru region (45% vs 41.4%, 16 vs 11 seats).
In overall vote share terms, the Congress had a healthy lead over the BJP - ~43% vs 36% even as the JD(S) has won a 13% share, down by 5% points since 2018 but enough to lead in 19 seats in South Karnataka and denying the Congress party a landslide in the process.
