Congress party looked set to win a majority in the Karnataka assembly polls after nearly three hours of counting of votes covering all the 224 assembly seats in the state. The Congress, according to official ECI data, was in the lead in 114 seats in a legislature where the simple majority is 113 seats at 11 am.
Meanwhile, a poster with the words "Karnataka Vijay" is being put up outside Congress office in Delhi. Congress has established a lead as per our expectations. We are expecting over 120 seats. We will come to power on our strength, the former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said in an initial reaction in Mysuru on the trends.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has expressed confidence that the ruling BJP will cross the "magic number" with a clear majority. "We are confident that we will win and cross the magic number. We have got the ground report from all the booths and the constituencies". On being asked about Congress having allegedly booked resorts to keep the flock together, Mr Bommai said the grand old party will not get a majority and hence they are in touch with other parties.