BJP’s Basavaraj Bommai Concedes Defeat

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai conceded defeat as the Congress leads sailed past 120 by noon. The party crossed the majority mark of 113 by 10 am as counting of votes started this morning for the assembly polls held on Thursday.   

“In spite of a lot of efforts put in by the Prime Minister and the BJP workers, we have not been able to make the mark. Once the full results come we will do a detailed analysis,” Mr Bommai told reporters.

“We take this result in our stride to come back in Lok Sabha elections,” he added.

Mr Bommai had earlier said that he was confident of a BJP victory. The Congress, he had claimed, was trying to reach out to other parties because it did not have confidence in its legislators.