Congress in talks with JD(S) ahead of counting in Karnataka

As the exit polls after the Karnataka Assembly election predicted a hung assembly in the state, with six surveys showing BJP emerging as the single largest party and three showing Congress in the lead, the Congress party has started talks with H.D. Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal(S) to forge a post-poll alliance.

The Congress has already sent two senior leaders of the party, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ashok Gehlot, to Karnataka and they are in talks with the JD(S) leaders, said a party source.

However, former Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) state President H.D. Kumaraswamy had left for Singapore on Sunday morning and was expected to be back late on Monday.

A Congress leader said the party will win close to 130 seats. "Our senior leaders are in talks with even those who have gone to Singapore," said a party source.

A day after a record 72.13 per cent of 5.06 crore electorate voted on a hot weekend, leaders of the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday claimed their party would be winning hands down, while the JD-S vowed to decide who will form the next government, if it does not get majority.

Polling was held in 222 segments of the 224-member Assembly, as election to Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari (RR) Nagar had been postponed to May 28 following recovery of voter cards from a flat, while it was countermanded in Jayanagar segment due to the death of BJP contestant B.N. Vijaya Kumar on May 4.

--IANS

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