Congress will emerge victorious: Party leaders on Karnataka poll counting

All eyes are set on 224 Assembly seats of Karnataka that went for polls on May 10, as the counting of votes started at 8 am on Saturday amid tight security.

While the majority of exit polls have placed the Congress ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is currently in power, they also predict a hung Assembly in the state. As the counting is underway, Congress leaders expressed confidence that the grand old party will get a comfortable majority with more than 120 seats.

''It's a big day today. We are hopeful that Congress will emerge victorious. We should get a comfortable majority with more than 120 seats. It's not just the exit polls that predict Congress victory, the same is also visible on the ground level, people want change, '' K Rahman Khan, Congress leader and former Union minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Meanwhile, Congress Karnataka Chief D K Shivakumar said that his party would win at least 141 seats and form a majority government.

Reiterating the same, former CM Siddaramaiah's son Yathindra Siddaramaiah said Congress will get an absolute majority and form the government in the coastal state.

Varuna, Mysuru | Congress will get an absolute majority and form the government in Karnataka. We are confident that we will make government on our own: Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Congress leader and son of former CM Siddaramaiah.

On the other hand, the BJP also claimed that they are going to retain the power in Karnataka with a comfortable majority.

The counting is being held at 36 centers across the state, in which 2,615 candidates are in the fray. Elaborate security arrangements have been made across the state, especially in and around the counting centers, to avoid any untoward incidents, official sources told PTI.

The state registered a "record" turnout of 73.19 percent in the voting on May 10, to elect representatives to the 224-member Assembly.

The electoral fortunes of top leaders such as Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP, Congress' Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar, and JD(S)' H D Kumaraswamy, among many others will be known today.