Exit polls suggest tight contest in K’taka
   Date :11-May-2023

Exit polls  
 
 
 
NEW DELHI, 
EXIT polls on Wednesday predicted a tight contest between the Congress and the BJP in the high-stakes Karnataka Assembly polls with many pollsters giving an edge to the grand old party. However, several agencies have stated that the BJP will emerge as a single largest party whose numbers will be close to clear majority. Another set of pollesters has expected a situation of hung Assembly in Karnataka.
India Today-Axis My India predicted a clear majority for the Congress with 122-140 seats in the 224-member Assembly and gave the BJP 62-80 seats. It gave 20-25 seats to the JD (S), the third major player in the race.
News 24-Today’s Chanakya also forecast a majority for the Congress with 120 seats as against 92 seats for the BJP and 12 for the JD(S). The result for the three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular) will be announced on Saturday. While the ABP News-C Voter exit poll predicted that the Congress would get 100-112 seats, BJP 83-95, JD(S) 21-29, The India TV-CNX exit polls gave the Congress 110-120 seats and the BJP 80-90 seats. They predicted 20-24 seats for the JD (S).
Times Now-ETG exit polls gave 113 seats to the Congress and 85 to the BJP. It predicted 23 seats for JD (S).
In the 2018 Assembly elections, BJP emerged as the single largest party by winning 104 seats out of total 224, followed by the Congress at 80 and JD(S) at 37. There was one independent member, while BSP and Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janata Party (KPJP) had one legislator each. With no party having a clear majority and as the Congress and JD(S) were trying to forge an alliance, B S Yediyurappa of BJP staked a claim and formed the Government. However, it had to resign within three days ahead of the trust vote, unable to muster the required numbers.
Subsequently, the Congress-JD(S) alliance formed the Government with Kumaraswamy as CM, but the wobbly dispensation collapsed in 14 months as 17 legislators resigned and came out of the ruling coalition and defected to the BJP, facilitating it to come back to power. Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday rejected the exit poll results, which gave Congress an edge over the ruling BJP in the Assembly elections. Reacting to the predictions, the Congress tweeted, “As the exit polls roll in, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the Congress party is on track for a resounding victory.”