As BJP nears majority, ministers dub party performance in K'taka as 'historic'

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) inching closer towards a resounding victory in the Karnataka Assembly Elections, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Tuesday, termed the day as a historic one for her party.

"This is a historic day for BJP, now, the intense campaign of PM Narendra Modi Ji is successful," she said, claiming that now, Indian politics will be guided only by development.

"And that note (development) is what the people of Karnataka have favoured, they did not go by the divisive politics of Congress, the kind of polarisation the Congress wanted, they recognised the Prime Minister's and Party president Amit Shah Ji's clear arguments that development can alone lift all sections of the society," she added.

Thanking the people of Karnataka, she said, "Toxic and divisive politics of Congress party needs to be stopped in Karnataka. They are completely rejected in Karnataka.

Sharing his thoughts on his party's apparent victory in the elections, Union Minister of Law and Justice of India, Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "The BJP's victory was obvious. People from all parts, communities of Karnataka have seen the BJP as the mantra for development, this is our victory."

Union Minister of Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar also reveled in the BJP's glaring victory in the state, saying, "People of Karnataka want good governance, that is why they have chosen the BJP. This is a big victory for the party. The Congress is losing state after state and we are winning them."

Counting of votes began at 8 a.m. for 221 out of 224 assembly constituencies in 58,546 polling stations in the state. The elections in two constituencies, Jayanagar and Rajarajeshwari Nagar, both in Bengaluru had been postponed earlier.

A total of 2,654 candidates, including 216 women candidates were in the fray for the Assembly Elections this year. The elections are being viewed by many as the BJP's as its gateway into the Southern stronghold.

Since the 2014 general elections, the Congress party has been defeated by the BJP in over a dozen states.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded 223 candidates, while the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) fielded 222 and 201 candidates respectively.

Out of the 224 seats, 36 of them are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs), while 15 of them are for Scheduled Tribes (STs).

It may be noted that a party or an alliance needs 112 seats to form the government.