CM Bommai offers prayers at Saundatti Renuka Yellama temple in Belagavi

BELAGAVI: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday offered prayer at Saundatti Shri Renuka Yellama temple located in Belagavi district ahead of the counting of the votes for the Karnataka Assembly elections that will take place on Saturday.

Elections to the state Assembly were held on Wednesday and the voter turnout was recorded to be 72.82 per cent, a high figure compared to past trends.

The Congress is expected to have a clear edge in the Assembly elections with four exit polls giving it a full majority and some predicting a hung assembly with an advantage to the party. A few exit polls also said that the BJP is ahead in the sweepstakes to form the government. A party needs 113 seats for a majority in the 224-member Karnataka assembly.

The exit polls, which were released after the polling ended in Karnataka, predicted that the JD(S) would not touch the 37 seats it won in the 2018 polls, but will continue to be a strong regional player in the state. If Karnataka throws up a hung Assembly, the JD(S) could emerge in the role of kingmaker.

According to India Today-Axis My India exit poll, Congress is poised to win a comfortable majority with 122-140 seats, BJP will get 62-80 seats, JD(S) 20-25, and others 0-3 seats. News 24-Today’s Chanakya forecast a majority for the Congress with 120 seats as against 92 for the BJP and 12 for the JD(S). The poll of polls shows an advantage for the Congress with the party poised to win 109 seats, BJP 91 seats, and JD(S) 23.

However, Bommai rejected the exit poll results earlier in the day, pointing out that the last time, they gave Congress 107 seats, but the final outcome was contrary to the predictions after counting of votes. “I still have the same confidence”, he said. “We are confident with our ground reports and we will come with a comfortable majority. All the exit polls predicted that Yogi Adityanath will not come back, but he came back in Uttar Pradesh”, he added. (ANI)