Leaders of political parties and the electorate as well seem to be waiting with bated breath as the votes cast for the Karnataka Assembly elections 2018 are set to be counted on Tuesday morning and the results known by noon.
With exit polls divided over who will win Karnataka — ranging from a clear victory to the Congress and clear victory to the BJP, to a hung House — the pending results have generated much interest for this suspense factor.
Speculations have already begun on possible scenarios in case of a hung verdict and the Janata Dal (S) emerging the kingmaker. H.D. Kumaraswamy’s short trip to Singapore over the last two days, H.D. Deve Gowda’s studied silence, and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s statement on the possibility of the State having a Dalit Chief Minister have all added to intense speculation even before the results are out. Meanwhile, all the chief ministerial candidates — Mr. Siddaramaiah, B.S. Yeddyurappa of the BJP, and Mr. Kumaraswamy — will be in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
As the counting of votes will begin at 8 a.m., at 38 counting centres across the State, most results will be out by noon. However, the leads will be available much earlier.
Both the Congress and BJP have claimed the high voter turnout will benefit them, with the BJP claiming it reflects high anti-incumbency sentiment, and the Congress saying it indicates that the poor and its “invisible voters” have voted in large numbers.
