Karnataka Assembly Election Results 2023: Modi's ruling BJP voted out in key Indian state
India's opposition Congress party won power in a key state on May 13, partial election results showed, defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling BJP a year ahead of national polls. It ousted Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from office in Karnataka, the only southern state controlled by the Hindu nationalist grouping.
Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah reached Delhi on May 15 to meet the AICC leaders as the party engages in the process of picking the next chief minister after the party's emphatic win in the state. Later in the day, DK Shivakumar will also arrive in Delhi to attend the meeting by top leadership. According to the sources the swearing-in is scheduled for May 18. (Image: AP)
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India's opposition Congress party won power in a key state on May 13, partial election results showed, defeating Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling BJP a year ahead of national polls. It ousted Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from office in Karnataka, the only southern state controlled by the Hindu nationalist grouping. (Image: AP)
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Three central observers appointed by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in Karnataka, arrived in Delhi on May 15 to present their report to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on the question of appointing the chief minister of the State. The observers Sushil Kumar Shinde, Deepak Bawaria and Bhanwar Jitendra Singh were tasked with speaking to newly elected Congress MLAs on the election of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in Karnataka and subsequently to submit their report to the party's high command. The three observers were appointed by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on May 14. (Image: AFP)
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Karnataka has a population of well over 60 million people -- about the same as Britain -- and its capital Bengaluru is India's tech hub. With dozens of results still to come in, Congress had already won 114 places in the 224-seat assembly, enough for an overall majority, and was leading in another 22, which would give it a comfortable cushion, the election commission website showed. (Image: AFP)
BJP state leader B.S. Yediyurappa -- a former chief minister -- conceded defeat. "Victory and defeat aren't new to BJP," he told reporters. "We will introspect about the party's setback. I respectfully accept this verdict." The party had mounted a major campaign in the state with Modi himself visiting to promote its muscular brand of Hindu politics. (Image: AFP)
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Congress campaigned hard on secularism, giveaways of electricity and rice for the poor, and accusations of BJP corruption. But analysts say the Karnataka result has limited implications for next year's poll, at which the BJP is widely expected to secure a third consecutive victory. (Image: AP)
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The win would "enhance Congress party's position within the gamut of opposition parties", he said, but would not affect the overall result in 2024. Congress, the party of India's Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, dominated the country's politics for decades but has been in decline for years, and the victory in Karnataka will raise the number of states it controls to just four. (Image: AP)
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The BJP fell short of a majority in the last state election in Karnataka in 2018, but it assumed power a year later allegedly by persuading members of the ruling coalition to defect. (Image: AP)
![BJP state leader B.S. Yediyurappa -- a former chief minister -- conceded defeat. "Victory and defeat aren't new to BJP," he told reporters. "We will introspect about the party's setback. I respectfully accept this verdict." The party had mounted a major campaign in the state with Modi himself visiting to promote its muscular brand of Hindu politics. (Image: AFP)](https://images.moneycontrol.com/static-mcnews/2023/05/5-karnataka-election-2023-congress-win.jpg "BJP state leader B.S. Yediyurappa -- a former chief minister -- conceded defeat. "Victory and defeat aren't new to BJP," he told reporters. "We will introspect about the party's setback. I respectfully accept this verdict." The party had mounted a major campaign in the state with Modi himself visiting to promote its muscular brand of Hindu politics. (Image: AFP)")
![The win would "enhance Congress party's position within the gamut of opposition parties", he said, but would not affect the overall result in 2024. Congress, the party of India's Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, dominated the country's politics for decades but has been in decline for years, and the victory in Karnataka will raise the number of states it controls to just four. (Image: AP)](https://images.moneycontrol.com/static-mcnews/2023/05/4-karnataka-election-2023-congress-win.jpg "The win would "enhance Congress party's position within the gamut of opposition parties", he said, but would not affect the overall result in 2024. Congress, the party of India's Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, dominated the country's politics for decades but has been in decline for years, and the victory in Karnataka will raise the number of states it controls to just four. (Image: AP)")
