BENGALURU: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar, an aspirant to be Chief Minister, was leading in early trends of vote counting while Jagadish Shettar, who switched to Congress from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was trailing in Hubli-Dharwad-Central.
As per trends from Election Commission at 9.45 am, Shivakumar was leading against BJP’s R Ashoka by 6,657 votes while Shettar was trailing against Mahesh Tenginakai of BJP by 12,137 votes.
The counting of votes began at 8 am amid tight security across the state. The Congress was leading in 116 seats while the BJP was ahead in 77 segments and the JD(S) in 27 seats while Others were leading in 4 seats. The exit polls predicted a hung assembly with some showing Congress returning to power with a majority. A few exit polls also showed BJP ahead.
If there is a hung Assembly, Janata Dal (Secular) can play the role of a kingmaker. JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, earlier on Saturday, said that he had not been contacted as yet for the formation of the government in case of a cliffhanger, adding that he is hoping for a good show.
“No one has contacted me till now. Let us see the final results first. According to the exit polls, there is no need for options. Let us see,” the JD(S) leader added. In the next few hours, it will become clear. Exit polls show that the two national parties will score in a big way. The polls have given 30-32 seats to JD(S). I am a small party, there is no demand for me…I am hoping for a good development,” he said. (ANI)