KARNATAKA Poll: Strong wave In BJP’s Favour, Will Win Over 125 Seats & Form BJP Govt: Yeddyurappa

EVEN after most exit polls suggest BJP emerging As the largest Party and a hung assembly in Karnataka, BJP’s Chie Ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa one day after the polling that BJP is  going to form government  on May 17.Congress will not get 70 seats, he added. “Thank you Karnataka! Gratitude to the people of Karnataka for voting in large numbers. @BJP4Karnataka is headed towards a landslide victory with all your blessings and support!” he tweeted. Karnataka assembly elections concluded  on Saturday by and large peacefully and the voters will have to wait till Tuesday to know about the people’s verdict when the results of the keenly contested electoral battle between the surging BJP and the Congress will be declared by the Election Commission of India. Meanwhile, exit polls conducted by six of eight agencies, have predicted that BJP is emerging as the largest party in the 224 –Member Legislative Assembly and JDS (S) led by former Prime Minister  H D Gowda is expected to get between 24 and 40 seats. All eyes are on him to ascertain what role his party will play in the event of a hung assembly. Polling was held in 222 constituencies of the 224-member Assembly as elections in two constituencies, Jayanagara and Rajrajeshwari Nagar were countermanded. Seven exit polls predicted a hung assembly, with neither the BJP nor the Congress achieving the magic number 112 seats. Voting in Bengaluru’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar seat was deferred to May 28 after 9,896 voter ID cards were found in a city flat ahead of Saturday’s voting. Election for the Jayanagar seat was deferred following the death of the BJP candidate. The ABP-C Voter, NewsX-CNX, Republic-Jan ki Baat and News Nation exit polls predicted the BJP would be the largest party in the assembly. A similar prediction was made by the regional Dighvijay-Vijaywani Survey. Times Now broadcasts two exit polls   Times Now-VMR giving the Congress a narrow lead; the other, Times Now-Today’s Chanakya, gave the BJP a clear majority. The India Today-Axis exit poll said the Congress would be the single largest party.Meanwhile, The Deccan Chronicle reports  quoting informed sources that  in the event of a hung Assembly and  JD(S) bagging “enough seats” the party would be willing to “compromise” if the BJP agreed to prop up H D Kumaraswamy, son of ageing HD Gowda ,leading the party   as the next Chief Minister. The party would require to win nearly 40-45 seats to have bargaining power .Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s praise of  H D Gowda at a rally at  Udupi in Karnataka kicked off speculation that both JD(S) and BJP might need the help and cooperation of each  other to checkmate Congress. Some political analysts however said that their open bonhomie may affect the party’s minority votes. Muslims, who form nearly 13 per cent of the state’s population, is a major vote bank for the non-BJP outfits including JD(S).The PM had gone on record saying “I hold the door open for Gowda when he visits me; I escort him to the car door when he leaves. That is the respect a former PM deserves, which others do not understand.”But who can overlook the fact that the wish of the ex-PM ,who was also Chief Minister of Karnataka, is see his son HD Kumaraswamy as the CM of 112 seats. All these polls suggested that the JD(S) would be kingmaker, with the party predicted to get between 20 and 40 seats. The ABP-C Voter, NewsX-CNX, Republic-Jan ki Baat and News Nation exit polls predicted the BJP would be the largest party in the assembly. A similar prediction was made by the regional Dighvijay-Vijayawani survey.Times Now broadcast two exit polls. One, Times Now-VMR, gave the Congress a narrow lead; the other, Times Now .Today’s Chanakya, gave the BJP a clear majority. The India Today-Axis exit poll said the Congress would be the single largest party.BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate representing the Lingayat community says the party will get 130 plus seats to comfortably form the government. Chief Minister Siddaramiah will be defeated in the two constituencies from where he is contesting, he added. Commenting on the exit poll, CM Siddaramiah said it is entertainment till results are declared.(Image The Deccan Chronicle)