The counting of Karnataka assembly elections 2023 commenced at 8 a.m., and the first trends show a neck-to-neck fight between the BJP and Congress. The margin between both the parties is narrow and no party seems to have made a substantial lead. In the first half an hour of counting, CNN-News18 reported BJP leading by a slight margin of 57 seats in a direct fight with Congress which was leading by 49 seats. JDS also leads on 15 seats, while AAP could be seen nowhere on the charts.
Leaders like Priyank Kharge, son of the Indian National Congress’s President and the Leader of the opposition in parliament Mallikarjun Kharge, are contesting to save his seat from the Chittapur constituency of his home district Kalaburgi and have taken the lead in the early trends. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai is also leading from his constituency Shiggaon.
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According to Aaj Tak, BJP lead the trends by 71 vs 56 of Congress out of the 148 seats they got the follow-up for in the first half an hour of the counting trends. As the contest moves forward, it is going to be a challenging day for the parties, and the Karnataka election results 2023 can end up with a hung assembly if the trends continue to fluctuate.
The counting of all the 224 seats of the Karnataka legislative assembly is underway and the exit polls majorly expect Congress to emerge as the leading party but fall short of the majority mark of 112, while BJP can suffer a loss on some seats as compared to their performance in the 2018 elections. Exit polls also predicted JDS to be a key player in forming the government after the results.