A dozen cabinet ministers including chief minister Basavaraj Bommai in Karnataka won while eleven ministers tasted defeat in Karnataka, as the trends showed Bharatiya Janata Party set to lose the only southern state it ruled.
Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai has won from the Sihggaon constituency with a margin of over 35000 votes and 54.95 per cent vote share. Among the ministers who won their respective seats include– Araga Jnanendra from Teerthahalli, CC Patil from Gadag, Prabhu Chauhan from Owrad, ST Someshekheer from Yashwanthpur, Byrati Basavaraj from KR Puram, Gopalaiah from Mahalakshmi layout, Shashikala Jolle from Nippani, Sunil Kumar from Karkala, Munirathna from Rajrajeshwari Nagar and Shivaram Hebbar from Yellapur.
Meanwhile, Housing Infrastructure Development Minister V Sommanna suffered defeat from both Varuna and Chamarajanagar seats.
Among the ministers who were defeated include- BS Sriramulu from Bellary, Madhuswamy from Chikkanayakanahally, Govinda Karajol from Mudhol, Health and Welfare Minister K Sudhakar from Chickaballapur, MTB Nagaraj from Hoskote, BC Patil from Hirekerur, Murugesh Nirani from Beelagi, KC Narayangowda from KR Pete, BC Nagesh from Tipur and Shankar Patil from Navalgund.
Meanwhile, as per the trends of the Election Commission of India, the Congress party has consolidated its lead and is leading on 136 seats, with victory on 82 and leading on 50 others.
On the other hand, BJP is lagging behind with 64 seats. JD(S) is ahead on 20 seats. Independents have won two, while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha have won one each.
The counting of votes began at 8 am amid tight security across the State.
The exit polls predicted a hung assembly with some showing Congress returning to power with a majority. A few exit polls also showed BJP ahead.
The fiercely contested election that saw high-pitch campaigns from the political parties.
The polling for the seats were held on May 10 with a voting percentage of 72. 68 per cent in voting for 224 seats. A party needs 113 seats to get majority.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
