Congress heading back to power in Karnataka, exit polls say

NEW DELHI: The Congress is headed back for power in Karnataka and the BJP could find itself fighting for a distant second spot with the Janata Dal (S), exit polls predicted on Sunday. They also indicate that while the BS Yeddyurappa-led Karnataka Janata Paksha has severely dented the BJP from which it broke away, it will have little to show for itself. Of three polls for which data was available, two suggested that the Congress may either just garner a majority on its own or fall marginally short. The third predicted a comfortable victory for the party. All three agree that neither the BJP nor the JD(S) will be anywhere close to the Congress tally and if the forecasts prove right, the HD Kumaraswamy-led JD(S) might have to resign itself to not even having a shot at playing kingmaker. The CNN-IBN poll gave revised estimate of seats that suggests the Congress will win between 110 and 116 seats, which means it may or may not get the 113 seats needed for a majority on its own. The CVoter poll pegs the party at 112, a not very different figure. Today's Chanakya, on the other hand, forecast that the Congress would win between 121 and 143 seats, which would mean a clear majority and perhaps even a comfortable one. The BJP's projected tally was between 43 and 53 in the CNN-IBN estimate, 47 in the CVoter poll and 31 to 45 in Today's Chanakya's poll. The projection for the JD(S) was exactly the same as for the BJP in the CNN-IBN and Today's Chanakya polls, but the CVoter poll put the party just a little behind its saffron rival at 39. 13 seats for BSY? The only poll to give a separate tally for the KJP was CVoter, which predicted 13 seats. The other polls have clubbed Yeddyurappa's party as part of 'others'. This category in the CNN-IBN poll is pegged at 16-24 seats while Today's Chanakya predicts it will account for between 8 and 22 seats. In short, all three agree that the KJP will at best be able to register a minor presence.   Source: TOI