Results and Trends

Update 8PM IST : Final Results

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has emerged as the single largest party winning 110 seats out of the 224 seats, while the Congress ended up winning 80 seats. The king-makers of the last time, HD Deve Gowda's JD(S) has been totally rejected by the electorates this time and the party finished a distant third with just 28 seats. Independents have won 6 seats, the lowest ever in the history of Karnataka Assembly. Of the independents, 4 are Congress rebels whose support would be crucial in helping BJP form the government, while 1 each are rebel BJP and JD(S) candidates.

Update 3PM IST

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) seems to be heading towards getting a simple majority on its own. The party is leading in 112 seats out of the 224 seats, while the Congress is trailing at 77 seats. The king-makers of the last time, HD Deve Gowda's JD(S) has been totally rejected by the electorates this time and the party seems set to end up a distant third with just 28 seats. The Others and Independents are leading in 7 seats.

Update 2PM IST

The Karnataka assembly results have started to trickle in and the initial trend show that BJP is all set to form a government in the South India on its own. The trends at 2 PM IST seem to suggest that BJP would end up getting close to 110 seats out of the 224 seats in the State Assembly. The congress has won or is leading in 77 seats while the JD- Secular has been reduced to 29 seats. The Others and Independents are leading in 9 seats and might hold the key to the formation of the new government in the state.

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Regional Analysis of the Results

• In the Central Karnataka BJP has won 25 seats out of the 35 seats on offer while Congress leads in 7 seats.
• Coastal Karnataka, BJP managed to edge out the Congress with 12 seats compared to Congress's 7 seats out of the 21 seats on offer.
• Hyderabad-Karnataka region, once ruled by the Nizams before independence,  the Congress retains its hold winning in 13 seats out the 31 seats on offer. BJP leads in 11 seats.
• In the Bangalore region,  the BJP (18) and Congress (14) ended neck to neck in the contest for the 36 seats .
• Out of the 50 seats on offer in the Northern Mumbai-Karnataka region, the BJP has retained its dominance by claiming as many as 36 seats. The congress won 12 seats in the region.
• In the Southern Karnataka, the BJP managed 8 seats comapred to the Congress's 23 out of the 51 seats on offer. The JD(S), which has been virtually wiped out from rest of Karnatka, managed to retain its influence to a certain extent winning 16 seats.

It is the Lingayat dominated Northern Mumbai-Karnataka region and the Central Karnataka, that has given the decisive edge to the BJP in this elections.

Key Victors and Losers

The BJP leader  B Yeddyurappa defeated Former Karnataka Chiefl Minister S bangarappa in a one-to-one contest for the Shikaripur seat in Shimoga. Shimoga has been S Bangrappa's pocketborough since long and the JD-S had not put up any candidate at this seat tactically supporting the Congress nominee. However, the BJP Chief Ministerial candidate maanged to trounce the combined opposition, signalling the start of a new Chapter in the politics of Karnataka.

The results have been specially bad for the Bangarappa clan. The sons of Mr S Bangarappa, Kumar Bangarappa and Madhu Bangarappa, have also lost from their constituencies in this elections.

The son of Mr Deve gowda, HD Revanna  won his seat.

Two key Congress leaders that have lost in this elections are Mr Ambareesh, actor and Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting from the Srirangapathanam and Mr Dharam Singh, the former Chief  Minister, who was looking to score his ninth consequtive victory from Jewargi in  Gulbarga.

Key Trends

The main shift this time around has been in the results from the reserved constituency. Compared to 12 seats in 2004, this time BJP (29) has managed to win a majority of the 51 SC reserved constituencies in Karnakata. Out of te total 79 SC/ST reserved seats, BJP has managed to win 33 seats comapred to Congress's tally of 34 seats. In 2004, the BJP tally stood at just 13, compared to Congress's 37.

Implications for the 2008 Elections

This win has given the BJP a headstart to the coming 2008 Union  Elections. For the first time, BJP would be forming a government on its own in the South India. With this win, BJP/NDA rule in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat, Bihar, Orrisa, Nagaland and now possibly Karnataka. For the first time perhaps, the Lotus seems to be blooming all across the nation.