In the days leading up to counting of votes, most exit polls telecast by Kannada news channels had forecast that the BJP would win anything between 8 and 12 assembly seats in the bypolls held for 15 seats on December 5. If Monday's results are any indication, the BJP's strong performance vindicates the TV pollsters' predictions.
The BJP ended up with 12 assembly seats, exactly double the figure it required to retain power in the 224 member legislative assembly which currently has an effective strength of 222.
Bypolls to two assembly seats are yet to be held.
As per the exit poll scoreboard, Power TV had forecast a minimum of 8 seats to a maximum of 12 seats for the BJP and Public TV had predicted between 8 and 10 seats for the BJP.
Yet another Kannada news channel BTV had given 9-11 seats for the BJP. C-Voter was the most optimistic with a prediction of a minimum of 12 seats to a clean sweep of 15 seats for the BJP.
The Karnataka bypoll results have come as a shot in the arm for television exit poll results which have in the past gone awry on many occasions leaving the TV channels scrambling for cover from politic as well as members of the public.
( With inputs from IANS )