New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Congress Saturday evening for its emphatic win in the Karnataka assembly elections.
Modi, who led a high-voltage campaign in the state, sent his best wishes to the Congress towards “fulfilling the people’s aspirations”.
He also thanked the people who supported the BJP in the Karnataka elections, tweeting: “I appreciate the hard work of BJP Karyakartas. We shall serve Karnataka with even more vigour in the times to come.”
By 5:30 pm, the Congress had already won 113 constituencies and was leading in another 23 in the 224-seat assembly.
The outgoing BJP, which was the single-largest party in 2018 with 104 seats, could manage only 64.
The Congress’s former ally Janata Dal (Secular) had won four and was leading in 16 seats around the same time.
A little earlier, BJP’s outgoing chief minister Basavaraj Bommai had taken full responsibility for his party’s debacle, saying there were multiple reasons behind the defeat and that he would identify them all.
He said the party would correct its faults and come back stronger for the 2024 Parliamentary elections. He further said despite Modi’s efforts, the party could not make the mark in the state polls.
Former Congress chief minister Siddaramaiah called his party’s victory a “stepping stone” to 2024 and hoped Rahul Gandhi would become the next Prime Minister. He also hoped that all non-BJP parties would come together in the general elections and ensure the BJP’s defeat.
The Karnataka veteran said the results were a mandate against Modi, Amit Shah and J.P. Nadda. “The PM had come to Karnataka 20 times. No PM in the past has campaigned like this,” the senior leader said.
Siddaramaiah, who was chief minister from 2013 to 2018, is a strong contender for that chair this time too.
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