BJP claims Karnataka; to assume office on May 28
The first ever Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the south will be sworn-in on May 28 with the party almost getting a majority, party sources said in Bangalore.
B S Yeddyurappa will take oath as chief minister, the sources said but refused to share further details.The party, won 110 seats, just three short of the magic figure 113 required for a simple majority, said it has the support of four independents out of the seven who are close to victories. The sources declined to name the independents who would back the BJP government remarking "they are our rebels".
The election process ends by May 28 on the day the Commission was expected to notify the constitution of the 13th Legislative Assembly in Karnataka.
The Congress won 79 seats while Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) remained a distant third bagging 28. In the previous elections, BJP and Congress had won 79 and 65 seats respectively while JD(S) got 58. Others and Independents won six seats.
Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy of JD(S) won Ramanagaram seat for the second consecutive time beating his nearest BJP rival M Rudresh. Congress's Mamata Nichhani, daughter of former chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde was in the third position.
Former minister and Congress heavyweight R V Deshpande lost the Haliyal seat to JDS's Sunil Hegde by a margin of 5,425 votes.
BJP Chief Ministerial nominee B S Yeddyurappa, former Chief Minister N Dharam Singh( Congress) and KPCC President M Mallikarjun Kharge were among others who maintained comfortable leads over their respective rivals.
Congress RPT Congress MP Ambareesh (Srirangapatna) and former Deputy Chief Minister M P Prakash of Congress (Harappanahalli) were the prominent candidates who were behind.
In Kumta, Dinakar Keshav Shetty of JD(S) won by a slender margin of 20 votes against his nearest Congress rival. (PTI)