Bangalore: Congress has stormed back to power in Karnataka with a majority on its own after a gap of seven years, decimating the ruling BJP..
In good tidings for the party battered by scams, the Congress has recaptured its old southern fort by a comfortable majority of 121, eight more than the required half-way mark in a house of 224 members.
The party has won 121 seats pushing the BJP and the JD(S) far behind. The BJP and JD(S) are jointly at number 2 with 40 seats each.
Yeddyurappa's KJP has won 6 seats while others have won 16 seats.
The SP has opened its account in Karnataka for the first time. It has been victorious in one assembly constituency.
B S Yeddyurappa won from Shikaripura by over 15,000 votes.
In the elections five years ago when BJP stormed to power for the first time in a southern state on its own, the party had won 110 seats against Congress' 80 and JD(S) 28.
Polling was held in 223 segments, with the one in Periyapatna in Mysore district put off to May 28 following death of BJP candidate.
With Congress all set to form Government, the race for Chief Ministership has hotted up, with the choice now appearing to narrow down between Union Labour and Employment Minister M Mallikarjuna Kharge, a veteran leader from the State, and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah.
BJP's performance in its own strongholds was pathetic, reflected in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi where its defeat was near complete as also in Yeddyurappa's home district of Shimoga and Bellary.
BSR Congress of former BJP Minister B Sriramulu also secured four seats and chipped away the BJP votes, as the ruling party stood mauled.
C P Yogeeshwara, who quit the Jagadish Shettar Ministry, towards the end of the tenure of the Government and contested on Samajwadi Party ticket, won from Channapata, defeating Anitha Kumaraswamy (JDS), wife of JDS state unit President H D Kumaraswamy, by nearly 6,500 votes.
Yeddyurappa, who broke away from the BJP and formed the regional outfit last year, bagged only five seats and was leading in one more but the damage it caused to the BJP's prospects was immense in many constituencies.
He got re-elected from Shikaripura in Shimoga district. While he succeeded in decimating the BJP, it was a disappointing electoral debut for his nascent outfit and his hopes of playing a king-maker have been dashed.
