Karnataka election result 2018: Counting to begin at 8 am; 10 highlights

Counting of votes will be taken up today for the Karnataka Assembly elections 2018, which pollsters have said would likely go down to the wire, with a neck-and-neck race between the state's ruling Congress and challenger Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mixed predictions by exit polls have further increased curiosity about the Karnataka election results. Some have said the Congress, led by its chief ministerial candidate Siddaramaiah, will emerge as the single largest party, while some have given the single largest party tag to the BJP. Most exit polls have predicted that former prime minister H D Deve Gowda led-Janata Dal(Secular) will emerge as the be a kingmaker should there will be a hung assembly.

Counting of votes will begin at 8 am in nearly 40 counting centres and results are expected to be declared by late evening.

Polling took place on Saturday in 222 out of 224 assembly constituencies spread across 58,546 polling stations. Elections in two constituencies, Jayanagar and Rajarajeshwari Nagar, both in Bengaluru districts were postponed earlier.

In a bid to curb the distribution of cash, liquor and other items to swing electoral process, the Election Commission deployed three flying squads in every constituency, 154 general observers, 136 expenditure observers, 34 police observers, 10,000 micro observers, 320,000 polling personnel and members of the Central police forces in all polling stations.

However, the election-governing body noted that a marginal percentage of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) failures were reported.

Since the 2014 general election, the Congress has been defeated by the BJP in over a dozen states, drastically shrinking its political footprint.

The BJP is making an all-out bid to oust the Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka and is looking to come back to power in the state with B S Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate. Interestingly, no incumbent government has been re-elected in Karnataka since 1985.

The H D Deve Gowda-led JDS is looking to establish itself once again in Karnataka politics and is expected to give a tough fight to both the BJP and the Congress.

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

A total of 2,654 candidates, including 216 women candidates are in the fray for the election, which is being looked at as a game changer for the Congress ahead of the general elections in 2019, and as a gateway into the South for BJP. 
 

The Karnataka Assembly has 224 seats and a party or an alliance needs 113-seats to stake a claim form the government.

Here are the top 10 developments on Karnataka elections 2018:

1. Counting of votes on Tuesday: All eyes are now on Karnataka as the stage is set for the counting of votes today, three days after elections were held in the state on Saturday. In one of the most high-profile and bitterly fought elections in recent times, 222 of the 224 seats went to polls on May 12.

Polling for R R Nagar seat was deferred on account of alleged electoral malpractices, while it was countermanded in Jayanagar seat following the death of the BJP candidate. Counting of votes would begin at 8 am in nearly 40 counting centres and results are expected to be declared by late evening.

2. What victory means for Congress: In case of a clear verdict in favour of the Congress, the grand old party will have broken the jinx of no political party retaining the reins of the state since 1985, when the erstwhile Janata Dal formed the government under Ramakrishna Hegde for a second consecutive term.

A victory in Karnataka would help boost the sagging morale of the Congress, which is on a downhill journey, losing state after state since Narendra Modi came to power at the Centre.

Losing Karnataka will drastically weaken its claim for the leadership of a broader anti-BJP alliance that is being talked about.

3. Congress chief ministerial candidate not known yet: It is unclear if current Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, a backward class leader with a formidable reputation, will be the next chief minister in the event of a Congress victory. Though the Congress had said he would be its face in the elections, it stopped short of declaring him the party's chief ministerial candidate.

Siddaramaiah caused a political flutter when he said on Sunday that he was ready to make way for a Dalit chief minister if the Congress high command so decided, a statement many felt was aimed at keeping the JD(S) in good humour so as to stitch an alliance in case of a fractured mandate.

Siddramaiah is a former JD(S) member and his ties with Deve Gowda's party continue to be strained.

Since the Congress had not declared its chief ministerial candidate, Dalit veterans in the party like its leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and state Congress chief G Parameshwara are being seen as possible alternatives. Kharge had recently told PTI he was ready to take up any role assigned to him by the party.

4. What winning would likely mean for BJP: A victory for the BJP, on the other hand, will reflect the enduring charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his capacity to power his party to victory across the country, clearing demographic and topographical obstacles.

It would also further galvanise the BJP cadre before the Assembly elections in party-ruled Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh later this year.

5. How JD(S) will play the kingmaker: The JD(S) has also claimed it would win a majority and that its chief ministerial candidate H D Kumaraswamy will be the "king" and not the "kingmaker".

The party may or may not win the elections, but will play the kingmaker if the electorate gives a split verdict, making Deve Gowda an important player in the state politics once again.

With the JD(S) having had partnered with both BJP and Congress in the past, it would be tough to predict which way it will go this time in the event of a hung House.

6. What exit polls have predicted: India Today-Axis My India exit poll has predicted that Congress is likely to win 106-118 seats with 39 percent vote share and will be the single-largest party in Karnataka. 

Chanakya Exit polls indicated a clear victory for BJP (120 seats), followed by Congress with 73 seats and JD(S) 26

India TV-VMR exit poll has predicted hung assembly in Karnataka. It says that the Congress is likely to get 97 seats, the BJP 87, the JD(S)+ 35, others 3 seats.

ABP C-Voter exit poll has predicted 101-113 seats for the BJP, claiming that the saffron party is likely to reach the 'magic figure' of 113 seats. It predicts 82 to 94 seats for the Congress, while the JD(S) and others will get 18-31 seats and 1 to 8 seats respectively.

According to Times Now-VMR exit poll, the Congress is likely to be the single largest party with 90-103 seats, the BJP second largest party with 80-93 seats. It said that the JD(S) will win 30-39 seats and others 2-4 seats.

NDTV's exit poll said the BJP will be single largest party with 98 seats, the Congress second largest party with 88 seats, and the JD(S) will be a kingmaker with 33 seats.

NewsX-CNX exit poll has claimed that the BJP is set to be elected as the single largest party in the state, with close to 102-110 seats, followed by the Congress with 72-78 seats and the JDS with 35-39 seats.

Click here to read our detailed copy on what various exit polls have predicted for Karnataka Assembly election 2018

7. Rahul, Chidambaram slam government over petrol price hike: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday slammed the Modi government over the increased fuel prices once voting for the Karnataka Assembly had ended.

"Karnataka finishes voting, Fuel prices rise to a 4-year high! The key principle of Modinomics: Fool as many people as you can, as often as you can," Gandhi said in a tweet.

Former Union Finance Minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram also slammed the government. "There we go again. More taxes on petrol and diesel, more burden on the consumer. The Karnataka election was only an interval."

The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) resumed the dynamic pricing system for fuel on Monday, pushing petrol prices in the national capital to 74.80 per litre.

The IOC had suspended the dynamic pricing for fuel for 19 days to "avoid creating unnecessary panic among the consumers".

In Delhi, petrol was priced at Rs 74.80 per litre on Monday, the highest since September 2013 when it was Rs 76.06. The price was last changed on April 24 when petrol was Rs 74.63 per litre.
 

 

8. Power tariff hiked in Karnataka two days after polling: Two days after the pollingto the Karnataka assembly, the power tariff in the state was on Tuesday increased by 5.30 per cent overall with the hike per unit ranging from a minimum of 20 paise to a maximum of 60 paise.

Announcing the increase effective from April 1 last, the Karnataka Electricity RegulatoryCommission said the increase for domestic consumers would be 25 paise per unit in areas covered by the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM).

For areas outside the BESCOM limits where the consumption was between 0 to 30 KWH, the hike would be 20 paise per unit, it said.

KERC chairperson M K Shankarlinge Gowda said various electricity supply companies (ESCOMs) -- there are five in the state -- had sought a differential tariff hike ranging between 82 paise to 162 paise per unit.

9. Caution ahead of Karnataka election results, inflation keep equities flat: Caution ahead of the Karnataka assembly election results and a rise in the April wholesale inflation rate subdued the key Indian equity indices on Monday.

Index-wise, the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed flat at 10,806.60 points.

The barometer Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 35,555.83 points, closed at 35,556.71 points -- up 20.92 points or 0.06 per cent -- from its previous day's close.

"Markets ended with marginal gains on Monday after correcting in the morning session. Traders seemed to be cautious ahead of Karnataka Assembly poll results tomorrow, 15 May 2018," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

10. Karnataka state polls most expensive ever in terms of expenditure by parties and candidates, shows survey: The just-concluded Karnataka state elections were the "most expensive ever" assembly poll in the country in terms of money spent by political parties and their candidates, according to an analysis by a research organisation.

The Centre for Media Studies, which describes itself as a not-for-profit, multi-disciplinary development research and facilitative think-tank on its website, has described the electoral exercise as "money guzzler".

According to the CMS, the money spent by various political parties and their candidates in the Karnataka assembly polls is in the range of Rs 9,500-10,500 crore, which is more than twice of what was spent in the previous assembly poll in the state in 2013.

"This does not involve the costs of the prime minister's campaign," the survey claimed.

Earlier field studies by the CMS over 20 years had indicated that poll costs in Karnataka were usually higher than assembly elections in most other states.

Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, in that order, have been the highest poll-time spenders in the country, it said.

With Agency inputs