Karnataka polls: BJP will win over 125 seats, asserts Yeddyurappa

Bengaluru: Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Karnataka chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa on Sunday said that his party would resister resounding victory in the state and decimated the Congress government with an overwhelming majority. Addressing a press conference here, Yeddyurappa expressed confidence that there is a strong wave in favour of his party.

"I have seen the exit polls. BJP will win more than 125-130 seats. Congress will not be able to cross 70 seats and Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S) will not cross 24-25 seats. There is a silent and strong wave in favour of BJP and public anger against Siddaramaiah and Congress," he said.

"This will be known when the results would be declared on Tuesday. BJP will form the government with an absolute majority, while Congress will exit from Karnataka," he added.

When asked about Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's advice on not believing the exit polls, Yeddyurappa said, "I am not saying this. Congress knows that it will lose in the election. There is no question of a hung assembly. I am confident that the BJP will form the government."

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The BJP leader, while reacting to Siddaramaiah's statement on calling him "mentally disturbed" added that he was making such statements because he would lose the Chamundeshwari and Badami seats where the Karnataka Chief Minister is contesting from.

Responding to Yeddyurappa's previous statement that he would form government in the state on May 17, Siddaramaiah quipped on Saturday, "He's mentally disturbed now."
Asked about the possible formation of the BJP government in the state, Yeddyurappa further said, "He (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) is in touch with me and (BJP President) Amit Shah. Everybody is confident of winning with an absolute majority. We are 100 percent sure of forming the government on May 17." The Assembly polls, which began at 7 a.m. at 58,546 polling stations earlier in the day concluded at 7 p.m. The Election Commission (EC) said that voter turnout recorded was 70 percent, compared to 71.4 percent in 2013 elections in Karnataka.
A total of 2,654 candidates, including 216 women candidates were in the fray for the assembly elections this year.  While Belagavi district had the highest number of voters (37,23,585), Kodagu district had the lowest voter share (4,33,846).

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The election in two constituencies, Jayanagar and Rajarajeshwari Nagar, both in Bengaluru was postponed earlier. In Jayanagar, the polling was also deferred due to the death of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate, B N Vijay Kumar, on May 4. In Rajarajeshwari Nagar, the polling was postponed after a bundle of fake voter identity cards was found from a flat in Bengaluru's Jalahalli locality by the EC officials on May 8. Polling for this seat is scheduled for May 28, while counting of votes will take place on May 31. The EC ordered the re-polling of the Hebbal assembly constituency's polling station number 2 in Bengaluru as the polling was stopped earlier on Saturday due to a technical glitch in the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

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As per the EC, a total of 600 pink polling stations were set up across the state, which was completely managed by women. Meanwhile, wheelchairs were also made available in some stations, with youth volunteers engaged for the assistance of differently-abled voters.
Tight security arrangements were made to ensure smooth and peaceful single-phase polling in 222 constituencies, including 36 reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 26 in Bengaluru. The counting of votes and announcement of results will take place on Tuesday.

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