- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Here are some news in brief related to the results of the May 10 assembly elections in the southern state of Karnataka that came out on Saturday (13). The Indian National Congress returned to power by securing a majority and dethroned prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Congress leader DK Shivakumar breaks down
Congress leader and the party’s president in Karnataka, DK Shivakumar, on Saturday (13) broke down as he spoke to the media about the grand-old party’s big electoral victory. The veteran political leader, one of the towering ones in the state, said he had promised former party president Sonia Gandhi that he would deliver Karnataka. He said he couldn’t forget Sonia Gandhi coming to meet him in jail in 2020 after he was arrested in a money-laundering case.
Outgoing Karnataka chief minister Bommai speaks
Karnataka’s outgoing chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, who succeeded BS Yediyurappa in 2021, conceded defeat shortly after noon as the Congress’s lead went past 120 in the 224-member assembly. He said the BJP failed to make the majority mark despite prime minister Narendra Modi putting in a lot of efforts along with the party’s workers. He also said that the party would do a detailed analysis once the full result comes out to prepare for the general elections in 2024.
Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah says Congress’s win a mandate against Modi
Siddaramaiah, former chief minister of Karnataka who was in power between 2013 and 2018, said the Congress’s victory in the state election was a mandate against prime minister Modi and the BJP and hoped the win could galvanise the opposition parties ahead of the 2024 general elections. “It is a mandate against Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and JP Nadda. They have a lot of money for Operation Kamala (poaching of MLAs), but they could not buy the people’s trust. There was a threat by the BJP to the secular fabric of the state. There was hate politics, which the people of Karnataka were not tolerating,” the former chief minister said at a news conference.
Congress’s special celebrations in Delhi
As soon as the picture became clear about the Congress winning the elections in Karnataka, celebrations kicked off at the party’s headquarters in the national capital. A number of Congress workers were seen dressed as Lord Hanuman, taking a clear jibe at the BJP. Lord Hanuman or Bajrangbali became a talking point in this election over the Congress’s promise of banning right-wing outfits such as the Bajrang Dal accusing them of spreading communal hatred, a move which the BJP slammed.
HD Kumaraswamy accepts defeat
Accepting defeat, former Karnataka chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy wished the new government was good. Kumaraswamy, who became the chief minister for a year with the support of the Congress after the 2018 elections before the BJP returned, said he would treat victory and defeat equally and added that the loss is not final and he would continue to fight.
