The NDA comprising BJP and JD(S) is set to make a near-repeat of its 2019 performance, winning 23-26 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, according to the News18 Mega Exit Poll.
The ruling Congress is expected to win around 3-7 seats, in a marginal improvement from its 2019 tally.
What the predictions mean?
Karnataka has been the only southern state where BJP has made deep inroads over the years.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP won 25 out of the 28 seats in the state, decimating the then Congress-JD(S) alliance. Congress and JD(S) managed to win just one seat apiece.
The News18 exit poll predictions show that Congress, which is the ruling party in Karnataka, is unlikely to dent NDA in the high-stakes 2024 battle.
The BJP, which is in alliance with JD(S), is looking to repeat its 2019 scorecard since Karnataka is central to its expansion goal in the south.
The saffron party is hoping to woo back the Lingayat voters in the state and dominate the Vokkaliga bastions, courtesy its alliance with JD(S).
It fielded nine Lingayats and three Vokkaligas on the 25 seats it is contesting in Karnataka, showing how it is relying on the two dominant communities to repeat its 2019 performance.
The Congress is also hoping to shore up its Lok Sabha numbers in Karnataka this year, especially after defeating BJP in the assembly polls last year.
Moreover, a good show in Karnataka is also a prestige issue for Congress's state satraps like deputy CM Shivakumar and national president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Kharge, who has been heading the Congress since 2022, has represented the Kalaburagi Lok Sabha seat. In fact, he was popularly hailed as ‘Solillada Saradara’ (leader without defeat) due to his stellar record. Congress has this time fielded his son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani against BJP’s Umesh Jadhav.
Meanwhile, DK Shivakumar has campaigned extensively for his brother DK Suresh who is the party candidate from Bangalore Rural. Interestingly, another son-in-law is in focus over here since BJP has fielded Dr C N Manjunath, son-in-law of JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda, from the seat.
Shivakumar, who was widely seen as the architect of the Congress's victory in the state polls last year, is hoping to increase the grand old party's numbers in the general election as well. A good performance by Congress will strengthen his stake for the CM's post, a position he ceded to Siddaramaiah after the 2023 victory.
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