First win for Congress, Prajwal Revanna loses JD(S) bastion Hassan by 44,000 votes

Karnataka Lok Sabha Elections Results Live: It’s the big poll verdict day for India’s 18th general elections. The ruling Congress got its first win in the Lok Sabha poll in Karnataka with its Hassan candidate Shreyas Patel beating JD(S) party patriarch H D Deve Gowda’s grandson and now-suspended sitting MP Prajwal Revanna by a margin of 44,000 votes. Prajwal who is facing allegations of sexual abuse was arrested days before the results day. As the counting of votes picks up pace, the BJP-JD(S) alliance has won five of 28 Lok Sabha seats so far while the Congress gained four, outperforming its 2019 performance of one seat. Karnataka remains a focus considering it is one of the three states where the Congress is in power.

The exit polls predicting a potential landslide victory for the BJP could be defining for the saffron party which has been trying to make inroads into the South. Other key contests to watch out for are Mandya, Bengaluru Rural, Mysuru-Kodagu, Shivamogga among others. Congress-ruled Karnataka could hold a surprise if the BJP repeats its 2019 dominance, when it won 27 of the 28 seats, given the magnitude of the grand old party’s victory in the 2023 state Assembly elections.

What do exit polls predict? The average of the exit polls this time suggests 23 seats for the BJP, indicating that the party gained from its alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) ahead of the polls. Congress leader and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has reiterated that the exit polls would go wrong like they did during Assembly polls last year. In Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, now-suspended, rape-accused JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna is expected to win against Congress candidate Shreyas Patel. But, the sexual abuse case against Prajwal, which surfaced at a time when the BJP-JD(S) alliance was heading into the crucial second leg of the Lok Sabha elections could change the game in other seats.