Karnataka polls: BJP has not been able to make the mark, says Basavaraj Bommai as he concedes defeat

‘We take this result in our stride to come back in Lok Sabha elections,’ he added.

May 13, 2023 - 14:30

Karnataka polls: BJP has not been able to make the mark, says Basavaraj Bommai as he concedes defeat

Karnataka Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday conceded defeat in the Assembly elections about five hours into the counting of votes as the Congress continued to maintain a comfortable lead, reported NDTV.

As of 1.35 pm, the Congress had won three seats and was leading in 129 seats in the 224-member Assembly, data from the Election Commission showed. The BJP was leading in 63 seats and had won in two constituencies. The Janata Dal (Secular) was leading in 22 seats.

On Friday afternoon, Bommai told reporters that the BJP has not been able to make a mark in the elections despite a lot of effort put in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party workers.

“Once the full results come we will do a detailed analysis,” Bommai said. “...We take this result in our stride to come back in Lok Sabha elections.”

BJP spokesperson Aparajita Sarangi told NDTV that the party either wins or learns but does not lose.

Bommai had earlier said that he was confident of BJP’s victory. He had claimed that the Congress was trying to reach out to other parties because it did not have confidence in its MLAs.

On Saturday, Congress leader Siddaramaiah expressed confidence that his party will come to power on its...