Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has conceded defeat in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections after early trends showed that the Congress were on course to win a majority.
ALSO READ |Karnataka election results live
“We could not make the mark despite a lot of efforts put in by everybody, right from our Prime Minister. Congress has able to make the mark,” Mr. Bommai told the media.
“Once the results come, we will do the detailed analysis. As a national political party, we will see what are the gaps and deficiencies in different levels. We will look into that.”
He added that the BJP would look to make a comeback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“We will take this result in our stride and reorganise the party and come back during the Lok Sabha elections,” he said.
Victory and defeat aren’t new to BJP, will introspect setback: Yediyurappa
As Congress surged towards victory in the Karnataka assembly elections results, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader B.S. Yediyurappa said victory and defeat are not new for the party and it will introspect the setback.
“Victory and defeat aren’t new to BJP. Party workers need not be panicked by these results. We will introspect about the party’s setback. I respectfully accept this verdict,” said BJP leader Yediyurappa on the party’s defeat in Karnataka.
He added that the Assembly election results will have no bearing on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
He also said the party will strive hard to win 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in the State, a feat it achieved in the 2019 elections.
“The election result has no connection with the 2024 election. We had won 25 seats and again we will make sincere efforts to win those many seats again to make Narendra Modi Prime Minister,” the four-time Chief Minister told reporters here.
He asked the Congress to honour the promises it made to the people.
“You had gone to every door offering guarantees and promised to fulfil them immediately after coming to power. It’s your duty to fulfill them,” Mr. Yediyurappa said.
BJP may be down in Karnataka but not out: Amit Malviya
BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya said that while BJP is down in Karnataka, it is not yet out as Congress inched towards victory in the Assembly elections.
Sharing a comparative vote share of the BJP, Congress, and the JDS between the 2018 elections and the 2023, Mr. Malviya explained how BJP’s vote share has dropped by 0.4%.
