Karnataka Election Results 2023: Time, where to watch and other key factors

Exit polls give Congress a slight edge despite the BJP fighting this election using the charisma and vote-pulling abilities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Karnataka election results 2023: The results of a high-voltage election in Karnataka will be out today. Voting for the 224-member Assembly ended on May 10. The election saw an intense campaign led by PM Modi to buck the strong anti-incumbency factor in the state.

Here's what you should expect on May 13:

What do exit polls say?

Exit polls give Congress a slight edge despite the BJP fighting this election using the charisma and vote-pulling abilities of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

--India Today-Axis: BJP- 62-80, Congress- 122-140, JDS- 20-25, Others- 0-3
--Republic TV-P MARQ: BJP 85-100, Cong 94-108, JDS 24-32, Others 2-6
--ABP C-voter: BJP 83-95, CONG 100-112, JDS 21-29, others 2-6
--Times Now-ETG: BJP-85, Congress- 113, JDS- 23, Others- 3
--Zee News-Matrize: BJP-79-94, Congress 103-118, JDS 25-33, Others 2-5
--Suvarna News-Jan Ki Baat: BJP 94-117, Congress 91-116, JDS 14-24, Others 0-2
--News Nation- CGS: BJP-114, Congress- 86, JDS- 21, Others- 3

When does counting start?

Counting will commence at 8 am on Saturday (May 13). The results for most of the constituencies will be released by afternoon. The Karnataka assembly election results 2023 for all the 224 constituencies will most likely be out by evening.

Karnataka Election Results 2023 Live: All the counting day action here

Where can I get all the updates?

You can either track the official website of the Election Commission of India - eci.gov.in. or Moneycontrol's special live blog on counting day

The caste factor in these elections...
The ruling BJP, the Congress and the JDS, the three major players in the Karnataka assembly election, all played the caste game with gusto. Lingayats are the biggest OBC community of Karnataka. The BJP, the Congress and the JDS’s number of Lingayat candidates were 67, 51 and 44 respectively. For the Vokkaliga community the numbers were BJP-42, Congress-43 and JDS-54. The BJP has not fielded any Muslim candidate. The Congress and JDS’s number of Muslim candidates were 12 and 23 respectively. The Kurba candidates (Siddaramaiah’s caste) fielded by the three major parties were as follows, BJP-7, Congress-14 and JDS-10.

Karnataka election: Real-time updates

Will it be a repeat of 2018?

The 2018 assembly election results did not give a clear mandate for any party. After the result the BJP was called to form the government as the single largest party with nine short of the majority mark. However the Congress and JD(S) formed a coalition and their strength became 116 (Congress- 76+ JDS- 37+ Others-3), three more than the required majority mark. This alliance formed the government, but within a year, 17 MLAs defected from Congress and JDS and joined BJP, which eventually allowed the BJP to come to power in Karnataka under the chief ministership of B S Yediyurappa.