Karnataka exit polls today: How BJP, Congress, JD(S) fared in 2018

4 out of 6 major exit polls had predicted the largest number of seats for BJP

The results of the exit polls for the Karnataka Assembly elections will be announced by various agencies by Wednesday night. The state reported a 65.69 per cent voter turnout as of 5 pm.
 

In the Assembly election of 2018, no party won a decisive majority in the exit polls. After the countrin, with 104 MLAs in a House of 224, the BJP was called upon to form the government following the results. To get it removed, however, the Congress and JD(S) quickly gathered 116 names (Congress 76, JD-S 37, and three Independents). 

Within a year, the situation had changed. The Congress-JD(S) lost 17 of its MLAs after they defected to the BJP after spending the previous months in a resort in Mumbai. BS Yediyurappa, a pillar of the Karnataka BJP, was appointed chief minister but resigned on July 26, 2021. Basavaraj Bommai, a Lingayat like Yediyurappa, was brought in to take his place.

But how did the 2018 exit polls place the major political parties?

The BJP was anticipated to win the most seats in the next Assembly in four out of six significant exit polls conducted by national television networks. All four of them proved to be right. 

The ABP-C Voter, NewsX-CNX, Republic-Jan ki Baat and Times Now-Today’s Chanakya exit polls predicted the BJP would be the largest party in the assembly. India TV-VMR and India Today- Axis My India gave the Congress a narrow lead.  All these polls suggested that the JD(S) would be kingmaker. 

In 2013, the Congress had won 122 seats. The BJP and the JD(S) got 40 seats each, while Yediyurappa’s then Karnataka Jantha Paksha got 6 seats and B Sriramulu’s Badavara Shramikara Raitara Congress Party bagged 4.