Karnataka Assembly Elections: Congress confident of majority, BJP rejects exit polls

The electoral wind is clearly blowing in favor of the Indian National Congress, but the BJP Karnataka is sticking to its pledge of obtaining a landslide victory.

Most of the BJP officials on Thursday stated their opinions on the recent exit poll reports, including Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai who said, "exit polls are exit polls", stressing that the BJP will return to power with an absolute majority.

Also, he stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "campaign is a plus for us. We will have a clear majority." 

Basavaraja Bommai told the media at his residence in Hubballi on Wednesday, "I am grateful for the love shown by the people of Shigawi. The election was held in a festive atmosphere. They plotted against me and spread lies about me. But that ended yesterday. I will win with a large majority in Shiggavi," he predicted.

According to post-election exit polls in 2018, the Congress was poised to win more than 107 seats. But everything changed on the day of the result. The same belief persists. Prime Minister Modi's campaign is beneficial to us. We received votes from both young people and women, Bommai recollected.

"I am confident that we will retake power with a landslide," he declared.

"The topic of a lack of a majority is left unanswered. I never mentioned 150 anywhere. But I said that I am (hoping for) the majority and I still stand by the same statement," he said.

Most exit poll projections show the Congress finishing ahead of the BJP, but the prospects of a hung Assembly remain strong. Pollsters also predicted that HD Deve Gowda's Janata Dal-Secular will play kingmaker. To gain a majority in the 224-seat Karnataka Assembly, the party needs to win 113 seats.

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala's tweet suggesting the high voter turnout was a "good indicator" for the Congress, Bommai stated, "If you check the track record, bigger turnouts have always worked in favour of the BJP and not the Congress. This demonstrates that many people, particularly in metropolitan areas, who would not normally vote, have exercised their right to vote this year. I consider this as a positive omen for the BJP because the same exit polls in UP said Yogi would lose, but things turned out differently."

On the other side, Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday extended gratitude to party workers for working tirelessly during the election campaign and anticipated that their fight will "definitely bear fruit" since exit polls showed the grand old party an advantage.

"I have a special appeal to our party workers: You have left home and family to work for the election. Now take some time off and spend time with your parents, wife and children. Our honest struggle will definitely bear fruit. Thanks again and best wishes to you all," Siddaramaiah tweeted.

The single-phased Karnataka Assembly elections were held on May 10, and the exit polls were released by the evening. The counting of votes will be done on May 13.

In the election for 224 seats, the state received 72.68 percent of the vote.

Exit Polls at a Glance:

Two exit polls -- India Today-Axis My India and Times-Now ETG -- have predicted an outright Congress victory, while India TV-CNX and Zee News-Matrize have given above 113 to the Congress.

News Nation-CGS have predicted a BJP victory, and Suvarna News-Jan Ki Baat has predicted an upper limit of 117 for the BJP.

Meanwhile, the Congress Party is expected to have a clear advantage in Karnataka's assembly elections on Wednesday, with four exit polls giving it a full majority and some predicting a hung assembly with a party advantage. A few other exit polls predicted that the BJP is leading the race to form the government.