Former Karnataka Chief Minister and BJP leader BS Yediyurappa on Saturday said victory and defeat are not new to the party, and asked party workers not to panic about the assembly election going against their favour.
Accepting the verdict, the BJP strongman said it will not have any bearings in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
According to the Election Commission, the Congress has crossed the majority mark as per the latest trends, poised to wrest power from the BJP. As of 3.17 pm, Congress is leading in 137 seats and BJP in 63, while JDS is in 20 seats.
Yediyurappa was appointed the chief minister of Karnataka for the first two years after BJP came to power in 2019 following the collapse of the Congress-JDS coalition government. He was asked to step down in 2021, paving the way for Basavaraj Bommai to take over as the chief minister.
In 2018 election, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats but fell short of the majority mark of 113.
The Congress had won 80, while JDS had bagged 37. There was also one independent member, while the BSP and Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janata Party (KPJP) had won a seat each.
The Congress and JDS came together to forge an alliance and formed the government. But Yediyurappa had staked claim and formed the government. He resigned from the post within three days ahead of a trust vote as the BJP was unable to get the numbers.
HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in as Chief Minister after Congress-JDS formed the government, but the coalition government collapsed in little over a year following the resignation of 17 coalition legislators.
