Karnataka Elections: Confident of winning majority, will take oath on May 17, says Yeddyurappa

BJP’s chief ministerial candidate BS Yeddyurappa on Sunday said that he was confident of winning the majority in Karnataka Assembly elections 2018 and claimed to form a government on May 17 even as the exit polls predicted a fractured mandate.

“He (PM Modi) is in touch with me and Amit Shah. Everybody is confident of winning with an absolute majority. We are 100 per cent sure of forming the government on May 17,” Yeddyurappa said.

The exits polls were divided over the Congress and the BJP and predicted a hung Assembly in Karnataka with the BJP emerging as the single largest party, and the JD(S) playing the kingmakers role.

Exit polls weekend entertainment, coming back to power: Siddaramaiah

It was not just BJP’s Yeddyurappa who claimed victory and Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah was also hopeful of returning back to power.

Siddaramaiah termed exit polls as weekend entertainment and asked party workers to enjoy and spent time with family members.

“Dear party workers, supporters & well-wishers, don’t worry about exit polls. Relax & enjoy your weekend. We are coming back. We are coming back,” Siddaramaiah tweeted.

“Exit opinion polls are entertainment for the next 2 days. Relying on poll of polls is like a person who can’t swim crossing a river on foot relying on a statistician who told him the average depth of the river is 4 feet. Please note an average of 6+4+2 is 4. At 6 feet you drown,” he added.

What exit polls predicted

As soon as polling for 222 of the 224-member Karnataka Assembly concluded on Saturday, different media organisations and poll observers started to predict possible scenarios about the results.

While some exit polls predicted another term for Congress’ Siddaramaiah, others told a different story altogether and claimed a victory for the BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa.

However, after predicting several previous Assembly polls on dot, we at News Nation conducted our own survey, which says the BJP will be the single largest party and the Congress distant second.

According to the exit poll conducted by News Nation, the BJP was projected to garner 38 per cent of the votes with 99-108 seats, whereas the Congress was likely to get 35 per cent of the votes with just 75-84 seats.

The ‘kingmaker’ JD(S) keeps its card close to the chest

With exit polls predicting the BJP as the single largest party and the Congress close second in Karnataka, the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) has emerged as the ‘kingmaker’.

However, the JD(S) has kept its cards close to the chest and all the doors open.

Reacting to the exit poll projections which showed his party emerging as the kingmaker in Karnataka, the JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda on Sunday said that he was not yet “prepared” to “accept or reject” anything and asked people to wait for the results day.

“I am not prepared to accept or reject anything, let’s wait for 15^th May, we will get to know the reality,” the Janata Dal (Secular) chief said while asked to comment on exit polls and his party’s role.

There were media reports that if the Congress failed to secure a majority in Karnataka Assembly elections, the JD(S) could support the party.

While speaking to a private news channel, JDS spokesman Danish Ali squashed speculation of supporting the BJP and said that it was the Congress’ “responsibility” to reach out his party.