Karnataka Elections 2023: Mallikarjun Kharge's Son Wins Chittapur Seat, Defeats BJP's Manikanta Rathod

Karnataka Elections 2023: Priyank Kharge has won the Chittapur seat. He has defeated Bharatiya Janata Party's Manikanta Rathod.

Karnataka Elections 2023: Congress's Priyank Kharge, who is the son of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, has won the Chittapur seat. He has defeated Bharatiya Janata Party's Manikanta Rathod. The counting of votes began at 8 am across 36 designated centres in the southern state, the Election Commission informed. According to the Election Commission, Congress is leading in 137 seats, followed by BJP in 62 seats, JD(S) in 21.

Kharge defeated Rathod by a margin of more than 13,000 votes. Subhash Chandra Rathore from the Janata Dal (Secular) was pitted against Priyank Kharge from the Indian National Congress (INC). Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Manikanta Rathod and Aam Aadmi Party had fielded Jagdish S Sagar. In 2018, Priyank Kharge had won the seat by defeating Valmik Naik of the BJP with a margin of 4393 votes. Voting on all 224 seats of Karnataka Assembly is scheduled for May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.

According to the Election Commission (EC), Karnataka recorded a 73.19 per cent voter turnout in the May 10 assembly elections, the highest-ever voter turnout in the southern state. Polling was held across 58,545 polling stations to elect the members in the 224-seat Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The majority mark needed to form the government is 113. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai exuded confidence in Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) return to power in Karnataka.

The exit polls, which were released after the polling ended in Karnataka, predicted that Janata Dal-Secular JD(S) would not touch the 37 seats it won in the 2018 polls but would continue to be a strong regional player in the state. If Karnataka throws up a hung assembly, the JD-S could emerge as the kingmaker. According to India Today-Axis My India exit poll, Congress is poised to win a comfortable majority with 122-140 seats, BJP will get 62-80 seats, JD(S) 20-25 and others 0-3 seats.

A party needs 113 seats for a majority in the 224-member Karnataka assembly. The poll of polls shows an advantage for the Congress with the party poised to win 109 seats, BJP 91 seats and JD-S 23. News24-Today's Chanakya predicted Congress crossing the halfway mark. It said BJP is poised to win 92 seats, Congress, 120 and JD-S 12 seats.