Karnataka Assembly elections 2023: Things to know before result day

Karnataka saw a voter turnout of 73.19% in the Assembly elections, which officials on Thursday termed a record

The Karnataka Assembly elections results set to be announced tomorrow. The Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Janata Dal (Secular) are contesting a three-way battle to win the majority in the 224-seater Karnataka Assembly.

Karnataka saw a voter turnout of 73.19 per cent in the Assembly elections, which officials on Thursday termed a record.

What the exit polls say

Karnataka could be heading towards a hung Assembly, seven of 10 exit polls indicated. Those predicting a hung house also indicated that H D Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal (Secular) is likely to play the kingmaker.

The majority mark in the 224-seat assembly is 113 seats.

Current scenario

Exit polls on Wednesday evening predicated a closely-fought race between the Congress and the BJP in the Karnataka elections. Most polls have given Congress a slight advantage in the race.

With a day to go before the Karnataka Assembly results, JD (S) said that it has already decided which party to align with.

Speaking to news agency ANI, senior JD(S) leader Tanveer Ahmed said, "The decision is done. It's taken. We will announce it to the public when it is right time to".

However, ex-Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Thursday that the central leadership of the BJP will decide whether the party will approach JD (S) for support if the polls do not produce an outright winner.

"There is no question of a hung Assembly or a coalition government, but the national leadership will take the final call. We will get 115-117 seats, so the question of joining with JD (S) right now does not arise. Let us wait and see", the veteran leader said.

However, Karnataka Congress Chief D K Shivakumar denied having any coalition talks with the JD (S). “Exit polls have their own theory. We don’t go by those samples, my sample size is too high and in that, we will have a comfortable majority,” he said to news agency ANI.

2018 Elections

BJP emerged as the single-largest party in 2018 Assembly elections, winning 104 seats out of 224, followed by the Congress at 80 and JD (S) with 37. No single party could register a clear majority, leading to a short-lived BJP government at helm followed by a Congress-JD (S) coalition. The alliance fell apart within 14 months as 17 MLAs defected to the BJP, allowing it to return to power.