Karnakata election results: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday Congratulated the Congress for the victory in the Karnataka Assembly Assembly elections 2023.
"Congratulations to the Congress Party for their victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls. My best wishes to them in fulfilling people’s aspirations," the PM tweeted.
"I thank all those who have supported us in the Karnataka elections. I appreciate the hardwork of BJP Karyakartas. We shall serve Karnataka with even more vigour in the times to come," he added.
Meanwhile, the Congress returned to power on its own in Karnataka after 10 years, knocking the BJP off its only southern perch on Saturday as voters decisively backed the grand old party desperately seeking electoral revival ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
As the results from the May 10 election rolled in, belying several exit polls that predicted a hung assembly, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai conceded defeat - the second loss for the BJP after Himachal Pradesh in December last year. The BJP, Bommai said, could not make the mark “in spite of a lot of effort put in by everyone, including the prime minister and workers of the party".
The Congress was winning or leading in 136 of the 224 assembly seats in the state, comfortably over the magic number of 113, and the BJP in 64, a sharp drop from its tally of 104 in 2018, according to latest trends on the Election Commission website.
The JD-S, which had hoped to be kingmaker, was leading in 20 seats, down from 37 last time. With a much-needed victory in the crucial southern state in the Congress bag, celebrations broke out at its offices across the country, from Bengaluru to Bikaner and Ranchi to Ahmedabad, as party workers danced to drumbeats and burst firecrackers.
"I am happy we contested the Karnataka polls without using hate, bad language. We fought the polls with love. In Karnataka, the market of hate ('nafrat ka bazaar’) has closed down and shops of love ('mohabbat ki dukaanein') opened," said former party chief Rahul Gandhi, who has been disqualified as an MP.
The strength of the poor has defeated the power of crony capitalists and this will happen in all states, he added amid loud cheers by party workers at the Congress’ headquarters in Delhi.
It was a bitterly contested, often vitriolic election campaign punctuated by Bajrang Dal, Bajrang Bali, corruption and intense debates on the state government scrapping 4 per cent reservation for OBC Muslims and issues such as the hijab.
For the Congress, looking to position itself as the main opposition player in 2024, this was the moment they had been waiting for.
“This is the victory of ‘janata janardhan’,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on the party’s performance in his home state.
“All our leaders have worked unitedly and people have voted for our guarantees,” Kharge added.
The result, said senior state leader Siddaramaiah, will be a stepping stone for Congress victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Also read- Karnataka results & Lok Sabha election 2024: Decoding implications
