Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suffered a significant setback as it lost its only state government in the southern region of India. The election results in Karnataka provided a boost to the opposition party, Indian National Congress, which had been overshadowed by Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in recent years. The Congress party emerged victorious, winning a majority of seats in the local assembly elections and positioning itself to form the government.
Karnataka, which was ruled by the BJP, voted on Wednesday and votes were counted on Saturday. Congress won 136 seats against 65 for the BJP in the 224-member legislature, the Election Commission website showed at the end of counting.
Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) won 19 seats, independents have won two seats, while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha won one seat each.
An incumbent government has not returned to power in Karnataka after a full term of five years since 1985.
In the 2018 assembly polls, BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats, Congress won 80 seats and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) got 37 seats.
The Congress victory has come at a time when it is seeking momentum ahead of assembly polls later this year in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana and the Lok Sabha polls next year.
The Congress party's fortunes had shrunk to a historical low since losing power at the national level to the BJP in 2014.
Before Saturday it had won only one of 24 state or federal territory elections since 2019, when Modi swept national elections for a second term.
In contrast, the BJP won 15 states or federal territories either on its own or in alliance with regional parties.
The defeat in Karnataka would be a rare blow for the BJP considering Modi remains highly popular after nine years in power and is favourite to win a third term nationally in 2024.
"(The) Congress party stood with the poor in Karnataka, we fought on the issues of the poor," Gandhi told reporters.
"I feel happiest about the fact that we didn't fight this fight with hate or wrong words. We fought this fight with love, with an open heart, and the people of Karnataka showed that this country likes love," he said.
"The markets of hate have been shut in Karnataka, the shops of love have opened."
Karnataka is home to about 65 million people and is considered the BJP's gateway to southern India, as the party has struggled to win elections elsewhere in the region.
"We accept the verdict of people of Karnataka with due respect, we will take this verdict in our stride," Basavaraj Bommai, the BJP's outgoing chief minister of Karnataka, tweeted.
"We will analyse and correct our mistakes and rebuild the party and come back during parliamentary elections."
PM Modi congratulates Congress
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Congress on their historic win in Karnataka assembly polls.
"Congratulations to the Congress Party for their victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls. My best wishes to them in fulfilling people's aspirations," the PM said in a tweet on Saturday.
While appreciating hardwork of the party workers, the Prime Minister also thanked people who supported BJP in the elections.
"I thank all those who have supported us in the Karnataka elections. I appreciate the hardwork of BJP Karyakartas. We shall serve Karnataka with even more vigour in the times to come," he said in another tweet.
