The BJP was reduced to just 64 seats and was leading in 1, down from 104 in 2018, while the Janata Dal (Secular) managed to win only 19 seats. It had won 37 seats in 2018.
The Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha, supported by the Congress party in the elections, also won a seat.
The BJP seats plummeted from 104 (in 2018) to 65, with 12 of the 25 ministers, who contested, losing their seats, as did Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri. The party, however, would look at the silver lining that it almost matched its 2018 vote share, securing 35.9 per cent, which could help it repeat its 2019 Lok Sabha polls of winning 25 of 28 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The defeat would add to the inconvenient questions that former CM Jagadish Shettar flagged of “partisanship” in ticket distribution by BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh, who hails from Karnataka. The BJP would also need to reconsider its high-pitched campaigns in state elections focusing on Hindutva and national issues, including raking up the Congress manifesto’s promise to ban the Bajrang Dal.
After the results, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the strength of the poor had defeated the power of crony capitalists, which would happen in all states. He said his party raised people’s issues and ran a positive campaign. Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh attributed some of the success to the Rahul-led Bharat Jodo Yatra, which had spent 21 days in Karnataka, the most it had in any state. “In Karnataka, ‘nafrat ka bazaar’ (market of hate) has closed down’ and ‘mohabbat ki dukaanein’ (shops of love) have opened,” he said.
In the bypolls, the ruling Biju Janata Dal retained the Jharsuguda seat in Odisha. In UP, BJP-ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) won the Chhanbey (SC) and Suar seats, defeating the Samajwadi Party. Apna Dal (Sonelal) chief and Union minister Anupriya Patel is the MP from Mirzapur. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party wrested the Jallandhar seat from the Congress in a multi-cornered contest.
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