Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India]May 13 (ANI): With the Congress all set to assume power in politically crucial Karnataka, the party on Saturday credited the victory to the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The Congress on Saturday secured an absolute majority in Karnataka as the party crossed the halfway mark of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly.
According to the latest trends of Election Commission of India, Congress has won 126 seats and is leading in 10 more seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 60 seats and is leading in five others.
The Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) has won 19 seats. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha have won one seat each.
The Congress maintained its lead since morning when the counting of votes for the assembly seats began in the hotly contested election.
Congress General Secretary in-charge, Communications Jairam Ramesh said the result is a direct impact of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka, the intangible impact was unifying the party, revitalizing the cadre and shaping the narrative for the Karnataka elections.
“While this is a direct impact of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka, the intangible impact was unifying the party, revitalizing the cadre and shaping the narrative for the Karnataka elections. From Rahul Gandhi’s many interactions with the people of Karnataka, during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, the guarantees and promises in our manifesto were discussed and finalised,” tweeted Jairam Ramesh.
He also said that people have rejected the BJP in Karnataka.
“The entire election campaign was about Karnataka issues. We didn’t make it a national election, we made this election an assembly election. The victory of Congress is the decisive defeat of PM Modi. This is because there was no other face other than PM Modi. The issues we raised were related to the state. But the BJP made the election campaign like a referendum for PM Modi. JP Nadda said that if you vote for Congress then PM Modi’s grace will not be with you. The campaign by PM Modi was completely rejected by the people of Karnataka, Jairam Ramesh told ANI.
The Congress put up a table comparing the party’s performance in the 20 assembly constituencies covered during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The list shows that the Congress, which had won 5 of these 20 seats in the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, made a massive lead and was leading in 15 seats till 4 pm. The BJP, which had won nine out of 20 seats in the last election, was ahead in two seats. The JDS, which had won six seats in 2018, was leading in three.
The ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ led by Rahul Gandhi entered Karnataka on September 30 last year. The yatra covered a distance of 511 km in the state in 20 days.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which began on September 7 last year in Kanyakumari, concluded on January 30 in Srinagar after covering 3,970 km, 12 states and two union territories.
Karnataka went to polls on May 10 for the 224-member state assembly and recorded a record 72.68 per cent voter turnout. A party needs 113 seats to win a majority. (ANI)
This report has been auto generated from ANI News Service. ThePrint is not responsible for its content.