Karnataka Assembly polls Archives - Lokmarg

K’taka CM: Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar In Delhi Today, Cong To Decide

By LokMarg 16th May 2023

Despite Congress’ clear mandate in the Karnataka assembly polls, suspense over chief minster continues with Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar, one of the two contenders to the post, scheduled to arrive in Delhi later on Tuesday ahead of an announcement by the party.

Congress leader Siddaramaiah, the other frontrunner for the chief minister’s post, had arrived in the national capital on Monday.
Shivakumar, who celebrated his birthday yesterday had stayed behind in Bengaluru citing a stomach infection. Both he and Siddaramaiah had been called to Delhi by the top leadership of the AICC for a discussion. The Congress won 135 seats in the 224-member Karnataka assembly.

The party’s central observers for Karnataka had yesterday briefed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on the views of the newly elected MLAs. According to party sources, Kharge will consult Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra before announcing a final decision.

“The name of the next Karnataka CM will be announced in the coming 24 hours,” they said.

The Congress legislative party had met late evening on Sunday in Bengaluru and passed a one-line resolution empowering Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge to pick the head of the legislative party.

On Monday, Shivakumar said that all the MLAs are together and the call on the chief minister will be taken by the party’s high command.

Speaking to ANI, Shivakumar said, “The party high command will take a call. I don’t want to comment or speak anything more. Whatever I had to speak, I have spoken already. I do not want MLAs (support)…that is not important to me. Ours is a Congress block. 135 is the number and one more ally member. We all are one and will work together”.

Meanwhile, Congress veteran Siddaramaiah met with the top leadership of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) at Delhi’s Lodhi Hotel late on Monday night.

Siddaramaiah, who served as chief minister of Karnataka from 2013-2018, however, remained tight-lipped on the meeting and did not interact with the reporters.

DK Shivakumar’s brother DK Suresh arrived in Delhi on Monday evening and met with AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge at the latter’s residence.

“I have met the AICC chief. I meet him whenever I come to Delhi. The same way I met him today. Our AICC general secretaries will let you know about other issues,” Suresh told reporters. (ANI)

Have To Accept People’s Decision: Anurag On K’taka Loss

By LokMarg 13th May 2023

Reacting to the Congress’s win in the Karnataka Assembly polls, Union Minister Anurah Thakur on Saturday said one has to accept the verdict of the people in a democracy and BJP has accepted the mandate of the people in the southern state.

Speaking to ANI after the trends in Karnataka pointed to a resounding Congress win, the BJP leader said, “We tried our best to make a double-engine government in Karnataka. We worked very hard. Our government did a lot of work in Karnataka. The state received the largest foreign direct investment. Development skyrocketed under our governance in the state. But in a democracy, you have to accept every decision of the people.”
“We humbly accept the people’s mandate in Karnataka. We will identify our mistakes and work to rectify them,” the Union minister added.

Congress won an absolute majority in Karnataka on Saturday, with the party racing past the halfway mark of 113 seats in the 224-member Assembly.

According to the latest counting trends shared by the Election Commission (EC), the Congress has won 135 and is leading in one while the BJP has won 65 and leading in one.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Congress on its win in Karnataka.

“Congratulations to the Congress Party for their victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls. My best wishes to them in fulfilling people’s aspirations,” tweeted PM Modi.

With the loss in Karnataka on Saturday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost the only southern state that it ruled.

Elections in Karnataka were held on May 10 and saw a voting percentage of 73.29 per cent. (ANI)

Karnataka : 52.18% Voter Turnout Till 3 pm

By LokMarg 10th May 2023

A voter turnout of 52.18 per cent was recorded in the ongoing Karnataka Assembly polls till 3 pm, the Election Commission informed on Wednesday.

At 63.36 per cent, Ramanagaram recorded the highest voter turnout at 3 pm while the B.B.M.P (South) recorded the lowest voter turnout at 40.28 per cent.
The overall voter turnout till 1 pm was recorded at 37.25 per cent, a significant uptick from 20.99 per cent at 11 am.

Polling for 224 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka began at 7 am on Wednesday. After a slow start, the turnout picked up as the day wore on.

The ongoing Assembly polls would decide the electoral fates of 2,615 candidates across parties.

In what turned out to be a high-decibel campaign phase, the incumbent BJP, Congress and the JDS went at each other and pulled out all stops and their heavyweights to woo voters.

After the controversy around its manifesto, which included a promise to ban the Bajrang Dal, the Congress tried to redirect its campaign focus back to the bread-and-butter issues and the alleged corruption on the watch of the incumbent BJP government.

However, the BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, went big on the pledge to ban the Bajrang Dal and alleged faux pas by the party’s designated translator at a campaign rally addressed by Sonia Gandhi.

In this year’s Karnataka polls, the Congress (supported by the CPI), and JDS are contesting on their own, aiming to form their government with a full majority.

In the previous state polls, the Congress and JDS had contested as partners.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Central recorded 29.41 per cent voter turnout till 1 pm while it was 29.90 per cent in BBMP (North).

BBMP (South) saw a voting percentage of 30.68 per cent, Bagalkot 40.87 per cent, Bangalore Rural 40.16 per cent, Bangalore Urban 31.54 per cent, Belgaum 37.48 and Bellary 39.74 per cent till 1 pm.

Dakshina Kannada recorded 44.17 per cent voter turnout, Bijapur 36.55 per cent, Davanagere 38.64 per cent, Uttara Kannada 42.43 per cent and Tumkur 40.60 per cent.

The counting of votes will take place on May 13. (ANI)

Karnataka Polls: Modi Holds Mega Road Show In Bengaluru

By LokMarg 6th May 2023

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a mega roadshow in Bengaluru on Saturday during the last leg of the campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly polls.

Karnataka will go to polls on May 10 and the votes will be counted on May 13.
During the roadshow panning nearly 26 km and covering nearly 13 constituencies, the people are queued up on both sides of the road where the Prime Minister’s cavalcade is passing.

While riding on the top of a truck, PM Modi waved his hands and acknowledged the crowd cheering for him. People also showered flower petals on him.

PM Modi is scheduled to hold two mega road shows and four public meetings this weekend, as per the party sources.

The first roadshow will cover about 8 km while the other will cover a distance of 30 km, they said.

Similarly, on May 7, PM Modi will also address four public meetings in different parts of the state.

Prior to this, PM Modi took out a roadshow of 5 kilometres in Bengaluru, and a roadshow in Mysore on April 30, in which a large number of people participated.

Earlier, on Tuesday, Prime Minister held a mega roadshow in Kalaburagi.

The BJP is eyeing a second term in the state and has exuded confidence in retaining power with a full majority. (ANI)