Team Blitz India
BENGALURU: The Congress is looking forward to form a government in Karnataka with leads in 138 seats while the BJP was ahead in 63, official trends at 3 pm showed. The Janata Dal-S was leading in 20 seats.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge called it a “victory of Janata Janardhan”, as celebrations broke out at the party headquarters in Bengaluru and New Delhi.
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah, the man who could be the next Chief Minister, said, “This elections will be a stepping stone for Congress victory in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.”
Most pollsters had given an edge to the Congress over the ruling BJP, while some had indicated the possibility of a hung Assembly in the state, in the event of which the JD(S) could have played the role of kingmaker.