The BJP at present is leading in 112 seats out of the 222 seats up for grabs. The Congress on the other end is leading only in 68 seats while the Janata Dal (Secular) is leading in 39 seats. Three of the seats are led by individual candidates. The counting is underway and the results will be announced shortly.
The counting of votes for the Karnataka Assembly Elections began today. There are three chief minister candidates hoping to gain power in the State. They are the present CM from Congress Siddaramaiah, the BJP candidate B. S. Yeddyurappa and the Janata Dal (Secular) candidate H. D. Kumaraswamy. A party will require 112 seats out of the 222 to form the Government in Karnataka.
Since 1985, no political party has regained power after their first term. The Congress is battling historic odds and indirectly hinted it would sacrifice Siddaramaiah to get the support of JDS.
The voting for the 222 seats was held on Saturday and one of the Constituency’s polling was canceled after the BJP candidate suddenly passed away. This election is very important for the Congress as it is one of the four states under their control. If Congress loses this election bouncing back in the General Elections will be difficult. Apart from Karnataka, the Congress rule in Punjab, Puducherry and Mizoram.
This is a single phase polling for 222 constituencies out of which 36 are reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes (ST.) There are a total of 4.97 crore voters including 2.45 crore women and 2.52 crore men. Reports show a total of 15,42,000 new voters aged 18 who are likely to cast their first vote.
