Karnataka bypolls: Exit polls predict big BJP victory

Bengaluru/Mysuru/Belagavi: Fifteen Assembly constituencies in the state voted on Thursday in what is considered an acid test for the B.S. Yediyurappa government which will have to win at least seven of the 15 seats to ward off a threat from the opposition Congress and JD(S) which could join hands to topple the five-month-old BJP government if they have the required numbers in the Assembly.

Going by the exit poll predictions, the BJP is likely to romp home in a majority of the seats with some pollsters predicting that the party may win as many as 12 seats leaving just three to the Congress while the JD(S) which has reportedly transferred its votes to the Congress candidates in many constituencies as part of a silent understanding, may have to be content with just one seat.  Counting of votes will be taken up this coming Monday, on December 9.

According to the C-Voter survey, the only constituencies the Congress is likely to win are Shivajinagar, Kagwad and Hunsur while the rest of the seats would be bagged by the BJP which is expected to take its tally in the 224 member state Assembly from 105 to a comfortable 117.

If the exit polls prove to be accurate, the big loser this time would be former JD(S) president and former minister A.H. Vishwanath who could bite the dust in Hunsur, maybe because of a tacit understanding between the Congress and JD((S) to transfer the votes of Mr Deve Gowda’s party to the Congress candidate H.P. Manjunath.

The big winner could be Rizwan Arshad of the Congress in Shivajinagar who may prevail. He was expected to find the going tough against the combined might of veteran leader Roshan Baig  and seasoned BJP leader Katta Subramanya Naidu.