New Delhi: After a high-pitched campaign and intense voting in Karnataka, the fate of over 2,600 candidates is now locked in the electronic voting machines.
The key southern state has recorded over 66% voting till 5 pm and is likely to break the all-time record of 71%, which was recorded in 2018.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Counting of the votes for all 224 seats in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly will take place on May 13. However, the results of exit polls conducted by various news channels and agencies will start trickling in just after the end of voting at 6 pm.
Before the start of the elections, the majority of opinion polls predicted a “major win” for Congress, a big loss for BJP, and a below-par performance for JD(S).
Also Read: Assam: Journalist arrested in connection with the Guwahati child-abuse case
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The ABP News-CVoter opinion poll predicted that Congress is likely to form the government and might win 107 to 119 seats, while BJP is likely to bag 74 to 86 seats and Janata Dal (S) can secure between 23 and 35 seats. The poll suggests that Congress could end up securing some 40% vote share, while BJP and JD(S) are likely to secure 35% and 17% vote shares, respectively.
India TV-CNX opinion poll predicted 105 seats for Congress, 85 for BJP and 32 for JD(S). A pre-poll by Kannada media outlet Eedina not only predicted a comfortable victory for Congress but also stated that BJP might not secure more than 65-67 seats.
India Today-CVoter predicted Congress is likely to win 107 and 119 seats while BJP could win 74 to 86 seats.
NDTV-Lokniti-Centre for the Study of Developing Societies survey, Congress is likely to be ahead of the BJP, and Siddaramaiah is the most popular choice for the chief minister post.
On the other hand, Zee News-Matrize’s opinion poll predicted that BJP would win 103 to 115 seats, Congress would secure 79 to 91 seats, and JD(S) 26-36 seats.
Kannada news channels Suvarna News 24×7 and Jan Ki Baat both suggested that the BJP may win the most seats to become the single-largest party. However, the survey indicates that the Congress party may receive a slightly higher proportion of votes compared to the BJP.
The majority mark to form the government in Karnataka is 113 seats. Some constituencies that will make a significant impact on the polls are Kanakapura, Shiggaon, Hubli-Darwad, Channapatna, Chaittapur, Ramanagara, Varuna, and Chikamagalur.
According to JanKiBaat and P-Marq-Republic, both exit polls predict a hung assembly in Karnataka. JanKiBaat predicts Congress to win 99-109 seats, BJP 88-98 seats, and JD(S) 14-24 seats. P-Marq-Republic predicts a hung assembly, with Congress winning 94-108 seats, BJP winning 85-100 seats, JD(S) winning 24-32 seats, and Others winning 2-6 seats.
The Times Now-ETG in the latest update predicted majority for Congress with 113 seats which is enough to form the government on its own.
The Times-Now ETG also predicted that the BJP will get 85 seats while JD(S) will get 23 with three seats going to others.