Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday, reacting to the party’s victory in Karnataka Assembly elections, said, Proud of my colleagues of Karnataka Congress for their outstanding work on the ground, responsiveness to local issues and commitment to resist the politics of polarisation. Now it’s time for celebration but not for complacency. We have the results we worked for; now we must deliver results for the people of Karnataka! Congress secured a comfortable majority in Karnataka as it crossed the halfway-mark in the 224-seat Assembly, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trailed behind.
Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan and a prominent member of the Congress party, responded to the results of the Karnataka assembly elections by attributing the his party's strong performance to Rahul Gandhi's pan-India foot march "Bharat Jodo Yatra".While Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai (Shiggaon), former CM Siddaramaiah (Varuna), state Congress President D K Shivakumar (Kanakapura), and JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy (Channapatna) are among the prominent faces leading in their respective segments, Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil (Ramanagara), BJP national General Secretary C T Ravi (Chikkamagaluru), and former CM Jagadish Shettar of the Congress (Hubli-Dharwad Central) are trailing. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi congratulated his party leaders and workers for the thumping victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections as the votes were counted on Saturday. Stating that the grand old party “fought Karnataka war with love,” Rahul vowed that the five guarantees of the party will be fulfilled in the southern state. Meanwhile, all eyes are now on Congress’s decision for the Chief Minister post for which DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are seen as top contenders. While it initially looked like a tight fight between the BJP and Congress, the picture soon changed.