NEW DELHI: It will be a
down-to-the-wire contest
+ between
Congress and
BJP in the
Karnataka Assembly election with neither party gaining a clear majority, according to early forecasts by the
Times Now-VMR exit poll.
The ruling Congress is likely to secure 90-103 seats in the 224-member state assembly, with the BJP coming in at a close second with 80-93 seats. The JD(S)-BSP combine will finish third with 31-39 seats while other parties in the fray will bag 2-4 seats.
Times Now-VMR exit poll data indicates that BJP will significantly improve its performance this time around, with around 87 seats, more than double the 40 seats it secured in the 2013 assembly polls. On the other hand, the Congress party's seat share will slide down to around 96 seats from its current 122-member strength in the Vidhan Soudha. No party will clear the halfway mark of 113 seats required for a simple majority.
Live updates: Voting day in Karnataka and Exit Poll predictions
The exit poll projections further point to BJP outstripping the Congress in terms of vote share in central Karnataka and Hyderabad Karnataka. The ruling Congress will put up a strong showing in coastal, greater Bangalore, old Mysore and Mumbai Karnataka, though the saffron party will better its state-wide vote share considerably -- 34.6 per cent, up from 19.89 per cent in 2013.
The Congress party's overall vote share will decrease to 38.4 per cent from 36.89 per cent in 2013. The JD(S)-BSP combine will record a dip of 1.3 per cent in its vote share.
Elections with Times: Flavour of poll campaigns, ground mood
The high-stakes
Karnataka assembly elections saw a 70 per cent voter turnout today. Polling was held for 222 of the 224 assembly seats and over 2,600 candidates are in the fray. Counting of votes will take place on May 15.
The election is witnessing a three-cornered contest among the ruling Congress, the BJP and the JD(S). According to election observers, the JD(S) is expected to play the role of kingmaker in the event of a fractured mandate.
BJP's star campaigner Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi have campaigned hard in Karnataka in the run-up to the high-stakes assembly polls. The BJP is looking to wrest control from the Congress in the state, which is its gateway to the south. For Congress, the Karnataka election is a prestige battle for one of its last-standing bastions in the country. A decisive win will also help it put a halt to the Modi juggernaut ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
