 "Newly appointed Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra (left) with outgoing state BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel at party office, in Bengaluru file photo:pti")
Karnataka comprises 28 parliamentary seats in the 543-member strong Lok Sabha. Under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contested 25 seats, while their coalition partner Janata Dal Secular (S) contested three, including Hassan, Mandya and Kolar. Meanwhile, the Congress contested all 28 seats.
Early trends showed the BJP leading in 16 seats and JD(S) in two, while the Congress is leading in 10 seats.
As the final tally came in, the ruling BJP secured 16 seats, JD(S) two and, Congress nine.
What did exit polls predict for Karnataka Election Results 2024?
Karnataka has traditionally been a Congress-ruled state. Despite this, most exit polls for Lok Sabha elections 2024 predicted the BJP-led NDA winning most of the seats in the state, leaving the Congress in single-digit seats.
JD(S) and BJP had formed in 2006, under which JDS MLA HD Kumaraswamy was made the chief minister and BJP’s BS Yediyurappa became his deputy. However, the coalition did not last long and the government collapsed in October 2007. The BJP-JD(S) alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is projected to win 23-25 seats, according to Axis My India’s exit polls.
BJP leads in Bangalore
The BJP secured all four seats in Bangalore including - South, Rural, North, and Central.
In Hassan, JD(S) candidate Parjawal Revanna, who is in police custody till June 6 in connection with the alleged rape case, lost to Congress candidate Shreyas M Patel with a vote margin of 42,649.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai won from the Haveri constiteuncy with a vote margin of 43,513 against Congress candidate Anandswamy Gaddadevarmath.
Meanwhile, JD(S) chief HD Kumaraswamy secured the Mandya seat, and M Mallesh Babu the Kolar seat for the NDA.
Interestingly, Karnataka has been the sole southern state where BJP has managed to create a strong influence over the years.
Karnataka Lok Sabha voter turnout
The Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka for 28 constituencies were held in two phases on April 26 and May 7. The first phase covered 15 Lok Sabha seats, and the second phase covered the remaining 13 constituencies.
According to data shared by the Election Commission of India (ECI), Karnataka had 2,63,38,277 registered voters in 2024. Of this,1,33,52,234 were male electors, 1,29,83,284 were female electors and 2,759 belonged to the third gender category.
Karnataka recorded a 71.84 per cent voter turnout in the ongoing elections, higher than the 68.96 per cent recorded in 2019.
