🔴 Karnataka Election Result Day Updates: Crony Capitalism Defeated By Poor People's Strength, Says Rahul Gandhi

2:45 pm

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has termed his party's win in Karnataka as the victory of the poor people's strength over crony capitalism.

Gandhi, while addressing the workers at the party headquarters in New Delhi, thanked the people of Karnataka and said hate lost to love and this will happen in all other states.

"On one hand, there was the strength of crony capitalism and on the other, there was the power of the poor people. Strength lost to power," Rahul Gandhi was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

1.34 pm

With the Congress leading in over 130 seats amid ongoing counting of votes in Karnataka elections, party leader and former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah has said that the result of this election is a stepping stone to the Lok Sabha polls.

"I hope all non-BJP parties come together and see that BJP is defeated and I also hope Rahul Gandhi may become PM of the country," news agency ANI quoted Siddaramaiah as saying.

12.20 pm

The official trends for all the 224 seats in Karnataka are out.

Congress has already crossed the halfway mark and is now consolidating its position with leads on 124 seats.

Meanwhile, BJP is trailing far behind the Congress, and is leading in just 70 seats.

11.40 am

The incoming results of the Karnataka Assembly elections are indicating a clear victory for the Indian National Congress (INC).

In coastal Karnataka region, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has traditionally performed well and is known to be a 'Hindutva bastion'.

However, in Puttur, which was earlier represented by former Chief Minister and Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda, a 'rebel' candidate is causing troubles for both the Congress and the BJP.

Contesting as an independent candidate to support 'Hindutva', Arun Kumar Puthlia is facing a tough three-way fight with Congress' Ashok Kumar Rai and BJP's candidate Asha Thimappa Gowda.

Supporters of Puthlia were angry at the BJP for denying a ticket to him. The Puttur Assembly constituency will see a nail-biting finish later this evening.

In several rounds, Rai took an early lead, but Puthlia seems to be putting up a tough fight by taking the lead in a few rounds.

11.15 am

With Congress in the leading position amid ongoing counting of votes for Karnataka Assembly elections, Congress leader and former CM Siddaramaiah's son Yathindra has expressed confidence that his father will once again be the chief minister.

We will do anything to keep the BJP out of the power... in the interest of Karnataka, my father should become the chief minister," news agency ANI quoted Yathindra as saying.

“As a son, definitely I would like to see him as a Chief Minister. But as a resident of the state, his last regime had very good governance, this time also, if he becomes the CM, whatever corruption and misrule during the BJP rule will be corrected by him," he said.

11.00 am

Congress has reportedly summoned all its MLAs to Bengaluru today as the trends show that party is inching towards a victory in Karnataka elections.

10.50 am

With the counting still going on for the Karnataka Assembly elections, Congress has crossed the halfway mark, as per the Election Commission.

According to the latest EC data, Congress is leading on 114 seats while BJP is ahead on 73 seats.

The JDS is leading on 30 seats.

10.42 am

Five takeaways from the early counting trends:

a) In terms of vote share, the BJP is where it was in 2018; rather, a few percentage points in the green

b) The Congress' gain has come at the cost of the JD(S)' downfall

c) Reports of Congress MLAs being moved to Tamil Nadu

d) Big battle expected in the Congress over who is going to be CM

e) Battle of the margins: Several seats where margins are in triple digits; in some seats, it is as low as under 100

10.33 am

A look at some notable candidates:

> Laxman Savadi

The former deputy chief minister, who quit the BJP mid-April after he was denied a ticket and joined the Congress party, is leading in the Athani seat.

Savadi is ahead of the BJP's Mahesh Kumathalli at the moment.

A three-time MLA from Athani, Savadi had lost the 2018 election to Kumathalli, then in the Congress but who later joined the BJP.

That Kumathalli got the BJP ticket for Athani constituency in this election angered Savadi. So, he jumped ship to the Congress.

10.24 am

Current status for 214/224 constituencies (leads), as per ECI

• BJP: 74

• Independent: 3

• Congress: 110

• JD(S): 25

• Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha: 1

• Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha: 1

10.17 am

A look at some notable candidates:

> Basavaraj Bommai

The Chief Minister of Karnataka is leading in the Shiggaon seat.

> Vijayendra Yediyurappa

The son of former chief minister and veteran Karnataka BJP leader B S Yediyurappa is leading in Shikaripura.

10.10 am

A look at some notable candidates:

> D K Shivakumar

The Karnataka Congress chief is comfortably leading the BJP candidate R Ashoka in Kanakapura assembly constituency.

> H D Kumaraswamy

In Channapatna, the JD(S) candidate is ahead of the BJP's C P Yogeshwara, but only just...

10.00 am

A look at some notable candidates:

> Jagadish Shettar

The Congress candidate, a former Karnataka chief minister who left the BJP not long ago after being denied a ticket by the party, is trailing in the Hubli-Dharwad Central Assembly, as per early trends.

> Ramesh Jarkiholi

The BJP candidate, who has been victorious in Gokak assembly constituency since 1999, is trailing the Congress candidate Kadadi Mahantesh Kallappa in the constituency under Belagavi district.

More updates coming...

9.45 am

Current status for 155/224 constituencies (leads), as per ECI

• BJP: 52

• Independent: 2

• Congress: 82

• JD(S): 16

• Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha: 1

• NCP: 1

• Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha: 1

9.39 am

Two updates from the Gandhis, as shared by the Congress on Twitter.

• A video of Rahul Gandhi, who apparently is said to be feeling "invincible... confident... unstoppable today."

• Priyanka Gandhi Vadra pictured offering prayers at the famous Jakhu Hanuman Temple in Shimla this morning.

9.29 am

Current status for 101/224 constituencies (leads), as per ECI

• BJP: 34

• Independent: 2

• Congress: 57

• JD(S): 7

• Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha: 1

9.22 am

Current status for 75/224 constituencies (leads), as per ECI

• BJP: 23

• Congress: 44

• JD(S): 7

• Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha: 1

9.17 am

Current status for 39/224 constituencies (leads), as per ECI

• BJP: 12

• Congress: 25

• JD(S): 2

9.06 am

"We will do anything to keep BJP out of power... In the interest of Karnataka, my father should become the CM," Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Congress leader and son of former CM Siddaramaiah, has told news agency ANI.

9.04 am

Note: ECI is displaying information as being filled in the system by the Returning Officers from their respective counting centres.

9.00 am

The BJP is leading on five seats while the Congress is leading in six seats, as per the Election Commission of India.

8.48 am

In very early trends, the Congress has crossed the 100 seats mark, as reported by India Today.

200/224 constituencies

• Congress: 101

• BJP: 79

• JD(S): 18

• Others: 2

8.38 am

While it is still early in the day, the Congress appears to be pulling ahead in Karnataka.

All channels are showing gains for the Congress with the party leading the BJP. Although, the lead is smaller than what was projected in exit polls on 10 May.

Notably, the Election Commission is yet to put out any updates or numbers on its official page.

8.00 am

The counting of votes for Karnataka elections has begun for all 224 assembly seats, with the postal ballots being counted first.

In the postal ballot counting, BJP and Congress are in a neck and neck fight. However, a clearer picture will only emerge after EVM counting begins.

12 May

The day is almost upon us — Saturday, 13 May, is results day for the Karnataka assembly election, 2023.

Context: The state voted on Wednesday, 10 May.

• A total of 224 seats are up for grabs in the state assembly.

• This time around, it's a three-cornered contest between the incumbent BJP, the Congress, and the JD(S).

• Notably, Karnataka has never voted back the incumbent party to power since 1985.

What's in it for the parties? While the BJP is looking to return to power after a supercharged campaign by PM Narendra Modi, the Congress is seeking a strong comeback ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

• This is not to count out the other force, the JD(S), though.

• Although many exit polls say the Congress has the edge, a hung assembly cannot be ruled out. In that scenario, JD(S) could play kingmaker.

• The JD(S) also has a chance, though the chances are quickly depleting, to retain some relevance in Kannada politics.

Congress vs BJP. The two biggies are battling it out fiercely.

• It is a make-or-break contest for the Congress.

• If they can secure the mandate, or at least form a coalition government, the party will be in a good position to further its case as the magnet around which a united opposition might coalesce.

• If they can’t, the structural weakness of its central and provincial leadership will be shown up as wanting yet again.

• For the BJP, a thumping victory would be the perfect setup for the next round of assembly elections later this year, and for the general election.

• But if it's unable to cross the halfway mark, or increase its vote share substantially, then questions will be asked about its state leadership, its grassroots work, and will provide a fillip to the opposition.

The Swarajya pre-election forecast. Yours truly has numbers that you may want to look at, along with a comparison to some surveys.

• It's a base forecast for the election using a proprietary in-house predictor model.

• The methodology and all the various considerations are explained here by analyst-writer Venu Gopal Narayanan.

What the exit polls say. As is customary, many exit poll numbers emerged after the voting concluded on Wednesday evening.

We've put it all down neatly in a table:

Swarajya election analysis. We've got some essential reading for you if you are up for it.

• To remind you, our Karnataka election dashboard has been chock-a-block with updates in the run-up to the elections.

1) Reconfiguration of the reservation matrix in Karnataka

• In March came a politically astute move, or so it was viewed, from the BJP government in Karnataka: religion-based reservation abolished.

• They did away with 4 per cent reservation given to Muslims in Karnataka under 2B of OBC category and distributed it to two politically influential communities — Veerashaiva-Lingayats and Vokkaligas — at 2 per cent each in jobs and admissions in educational institutions.

• The Cabinet also decided that the Muslim community in the state could avail of benefits under the 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections (EWS).

• Read more by clicking on that link above.

2) The bold gambit to carve out internal reservation within Dalit quota

• While the move to abolish religion-based reservations predictably triggered a furore, the momentous move to introduce internal reservation within the overall 17 per cent quota for the SC did not garner as much attention.

• The demand for internal reservation within the SC quota in Karnataka has been a long-standing one by various Dalit groups in the state.

• Despite repeatedly promising to reconfigure the internal reservation matrix, no government had dared to implement it for fear of antagonising sub-caste groups, until recently.

• The Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government showed political courage to devise and announce the sub-quota formula.

• Read more by clicking on the second link above.

3) In late March, the Congress unveiled four freebies (called 'guarantees').

• Under the Graha Lakshmi guarantee, the party has promised every woman head of the family a monthly cash dole of Rs 2,000.

• Under the 'Yuva Nidhi' scheme, the party has promised that if voted to power, it will provide an allowance of Rs 1,500 per month to every diploma holder for two years.

• Graduates will receive Rs 3,000 per month.

• Under the 'Graha Jyoti' promise, the Congress has promised that every family in the state will be provided 200 units of power for free.

After a mere cursory look at these 'guarantees', one can conclude that they will cause economic ruin for the state. Even a rough estimate of the cost of delivering promises could be upwards of Rs 1 lakh crore every year.

4) In its manifesto, released on 2 May, the Congress promised a ban on Bajrang Dal, along with VHP and PFI.

• In response, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai hit out at the Congress: "They can’t equate national organisation (Bajrang Dal) with terror outfit (PFI). The Congress has lied to appease minority. Its just a poll gimmick. Bajrang Dal is a national organisation and state can not ban it.”

• On 4 May, the BJP, VHP, and Bajrang Dal held Hanuman Chalisa recitations across Karnataka, after the Congress had promised a ban on Bajrang Dal.

• The Congress didn't stay behind. State Congress chief D K Shivakumar told the press that if they came to power in the state, they will develop existing Hanuman temples and also create new ones.

• In addition, they would also establish a special board to oversee the development of the Anjanadri hills.

• More on the Congress manifesto

Swarajya election data special. Catch up on our various reads:

-Karnataka: Understanding the great 2019 reset

-How can the BJP lose in Karnataka?

-In maps: An electoral history of Karnataka

-The JD(S) finally enters terminal decline

-Karnataka 2023 — a matter of margins

-Karnataka 2023 — the reality of triangularity

-Karnataka 2023 — vote share tranche analysis

-Karnataka 2023: Here's what this prominent opinion poll needs to explain