Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023

The results of the high-octane clash between BJP and Congress in the Karnataka assembly election 2023 will be out on 13 May 2023. The Karnataka assembly elections, which were held on 8 May 2023, will also be a battle for survival for JDS. The 2018 elections in Karnataka saw a nail-biting contest between the two three parties, which ended in a hung assembly with the BJP emerging as the single largest party with 104 seats. The Congress and JD(S) together won 117 seats. The BJP, under the leadership of BS Yediyurappa, formed the government since it was the single largest party in the House, despite the Congress and JD(S) post-result alliance having a majority. The Governor then gave a 15-day window for the new government to prove its majority in the legislature. The Supreme Court, however, limited the window to three days and CM BS Yediyurappa eventually resigned minutes before a trust vote in May 2018. The Congress-JD(S) coalition then formed the cabinet with HD Kumaraswamy as CM. This coalition government lasted for 14 months before turmoil started again in early 2019. A total of 16 legislators from the ruling coalition resigned within a span of two days and 2 independent MLAs switched their support to the BJP. This shrunk the house majority to 105 and ruling coalition to 101, and the opposition BJP to 107. After three weeks of chaos, Kumaraswamy lost the trust vote by 100–107 in the House and resigned in July 2019. On July 26, 2019, BS Yeddiyurappa took oath as CM once again. On the second anniversary of his rise to power, the BJP replaced Yeddiyurappa with Basavaraj Bommai – who like BSY is also from the Lingayat community. Even though Yediyurappa is no longer in power, the former CM is the tallest Lingayat leader and was recently appointed a member of the party's top organisational body - the parliamentary board. The change in leadership, however, has caused tensions within the party with several prominent Lingayat leaders such as HD Thammaiah and KS Kiran Kumar joining the Congress. Congress and JD(S) are trying to cash in on apparent fissures in Lingayat support for BJP by fielding a larger number of candidates from the Lingayat community in the upcoming assembly elections. Lingayat functionaries in the Congress, led by Shivashankarappa and campaign committee chairman MB Patil, have urged the party high command to field more candidates from the community. The JD(S) is planning a similar strategy. Although it is largely seen as a party of Vokkaligas, the other major community in the state, it fielded 33 Lingayat candidates in 2018, four of whom won. In the 224-member House, the BJP currently has 119 MLAs, Congress 69 and JD(S) 30.
Karnataka Exit Poll 2023 | Karnataka Election Result 2023 | Karnataka Constituencies List