With the results out, Karnataka Governor Valubhai Vala has granted appointments to the two claimants to power – BJP and the JD(S)-Congress combo to decide who finally emerges victorious in the Karnataka Assembly elections. BJP’s CM face BS Yedyurappa is at the Governor’s House for the meeting along with Ananth Kumar. He said he is happy with the verdict and will form the government as the BJP is the single largest party in Karnataka. JD(S)’s HD Kumaraswamy, who has been backed by the Congress to be CM, will meet the Governor at 5.30pm. HD Kumaraswamy had written a letter to the Governor, saying he has accepted the support from Congress, and would like to meet him between 5.30 and 6pm today. The Congress has said that if the Governor does not invite the JDS-Congress combo to form a government, they would move the court. The joint tally of the combo is 118, six clear of the halfway mark.

BJP’s chief ministerial face B.S. Yeddyurappa on Tuesday mocked the Congress party for being “desperate” to grab power by exploring an alliance with Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) despite being “rejected” by the people of the state.

“The people of the state have rejected Congress and voted for a change. People are moving towards ‘Congress-mukt’ (Congress-free) Karnataka. Despite being rejected, Congress is desperate to grab power,” Yeddyurappa told reporters here.

Anti-incumbency against the ruling Congress government was so strong that outgoing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself lost from Chamundeshwari seat in his home district of Mysuru, Yeddyurappa pointed out.

According to the Election Commission (EC), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has so far won 85 seats and is leading in 19 of the 222 Legislative Assembly seats out of the total 224 constituencies in the state. The party is eight seats short of the 112 seats required to win a simple majority.

The BJP’s national leaders will decide on the party’s course of action in the event of a hung Assembly, Yeddyurappa said.

The Congress, on the other hand, has won in 58 seats and leading in 20.

Congress General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad told the media in the company of outgoing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that the JD-S had accepted the Congress offer of support.

“We will meet the Governor and stake claim (to form a government). Our numbers put together will be more than the BJP’s,” Azad said.

Outgoing Congress Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday won the Badami Assembly seat in Bagalkot district but lost in Chamundeshwari in Mysuru.

According to results declared by the Election Commission, Siddaramaiah won in Badami by a narrow margin of 1,696 votes over BJP’s B. Sreeramulu.

He lost to Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) rival G.T. Deve Gowda in his home district of Mysuru by a huge margin of 36,042 votes.

Earlier in the day, Siddaramaiah was reported to be trailing in both the constituencies.

In Badami, he led initially, but then fell behind Sriramulu. However, finally, he prevailed over his BJP rival.

In a dramatic turn of events after Karnataka delivered a hung Assembly, the Congress on Tuesday announced its backing to the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) to form a government to prevent the BJP from regaining power in its only southern bastion.

After the initial euphoria of the Bharatiya Janata Party crossing the half-way mark in the 224-member Assembly where two constituencies didn’t vote on Saturday, Election Commission data showed the BJP could end up with 104 seats.

This would be eight seats short of a simple majority in a House where no one else appeared ready to back the BJP.

The Congress, despite being bruised in an election it had hoped to win, was set to take 77 seats and the JD-S could be victorious in 38 constituencies — two short of its tally of 2013.
Independents and smaller parties would bag three seats.

As it became clear that the BJP might not cross the half-way mark, Congress leaders quickly got in touch with the JD-S of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and his son and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.

Congress General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad told the media in the company of outgoing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that the JD-S had accepted the Congress offer of support.

“We will meet the Governor and stake claim (to form a government),” he said. “Our numbers put together will be more than the BJP’s.”

Informed sources said the JD-S could get the Chief Minister’s post in the event of a tie-up with the Congress.

But the BJP remained confident of taking power again in Karnataka. “We are confident of winning,” spokesman S. Shantharam told IANS.

The claim was echoed by other BJP leaders both in Bengaluru and New Delhi, where its Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa, who won from Shikaripura, was set to meet BJP President Amit Shah later on Tuesday.

But most of these claims were made before a hung Assembly prospect became real.

BJP activists and leaders earlier celebrated noisily in both Bengaluru and New Delhi, waving party flags and shouting slogans hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, their main vote-getter, and Amit Shah.

The BJP’s Chief Ministerial face B.S. Yeddyurappa was declared elected from Shikaripura.

Earlier, Energy Minister and Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar had conceded defeat as the vote count went in favour of the BJP.

BJP leader and Union Minister Sadanand Gowda said that there was no question of any alliance.

Expectations of a BJP victory in Karnataka lifted the key Indian equity indices during the mid-morning trade session on Tuesday. But the markets later went into the red.

Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy will be the party’s candidate for the Karnataka Chief Minister’s post, it announced on Tuesday after finishing third in the Assembly and getting the backing of the Congress.

“It is crystal clear that it will be Kumaraswamy for the Chief Minister’s post. With the blessings of the people of Karnataka, he will be the Chief Minister,” JD-S spokesperson Danish Ali told a news channel.

Asked if Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Valal can invite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which emerged as the single largest party to form the government, he said: “How can (Governor call the BJP) when majority is there with the two parties?

“In Meghalaya, they didn’t invite the single largest party,” he said.

Asked if the post of Deputy Chief Minister will be offered to the Congress, Ali said the party will ask the Congress to join the government.

“All those details will be discussed later on. Both the parties have come together and we will provide a stable government,” he said.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad earlier said it would back the JD-S to form the government following a hung Assembly.

The hung assembly thrown by Karnataka voters is heading towards a surprise result. While Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to emerge as the single largest party, the poll calculations indicate that Janata Dal-Secular’s HD Kumaraswamy may, after all, emerge as the ‘king’ and not ‘kingmaker’.

By 3 pm, BJP was leading on 108 seats, four short of a majority, while Congress was ahead on 73 and JD(S) was leading on 40. This puts JDS in unique indispensable position to control the poll verdict in Karnataka. Catch minute-to-minute updates on Karnataka Polls Verdict live on India TV

Having accepted its defeat in the polls early on, Congress has made one last attempt to keep BJP and its allies out of 21st state. Congress has reportedly given an unconditional support to JD(S) to form the government in the state. That entails that Siddaramaiah will give up his chief minister’s office to HD Kumaraswamy.

Here is all you need to know about the possible CM of Karnataka HD Kumaraswamy

Born on December 19, 1959, HD Kumaraswamy is the youngest son of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.His full name is Haradanahalli Deve Gowda Kumaraswamy popularly known as “KumarAnna” by his friends and followers.

He was an eminent film producer, distributor and exhibitor of the Kannada film industry and produced hit films like Ghalate Aliyandru, Suryavamsha, Premotsava and the recent Chandra Chakori.

His first film was released in 2000. In 2002 he was elected as the President of the Karnataka Cinema Theatre Owners Association. He is the owner of a cinema theatre at Holenarasipura.On 13th March 1986 he married Anita at Palace Grounds, Bangalore and they have a son, Nikhil.

In 1996, when his father was the prime minister, HD Kumaraswamy won the Lok Sabha seat of Kanakapura, but he lost the seat in 1998 after his father’s regime was over.

Another disappointment in his career was in 1999 when he lost the Sathanur Assembly seat to his rival D K Shivakumar. Whereas in 2004 he was victorious from the Ramanagaram Assembly seat but not included in the ministry.

A great leap in his political career was when he was selected as the Working President of Janata Dal(Secular) party. Finally, he took advantage of the discontent among the party members and united forty-two MLAs of the Janata Dal (Secular) to form the government with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP).

Kumaraswamy became Chief Minister of Karnataka on February 3, 2006. As per Power-sharing agreement, Kumaraswamy supposed to transfer the power to BJP on October 3, 2007, but HD Kumaraswamy refused to transfer the power to BJP. Finally, Kumaraswamy tendered his resignation to Governor Rameshwar Thakur.

From October 9, Karnataka was put under President Rule till November 8, 2007. In 2008 Assembly elections, Kumaraswamy contested and won from Ramanagaram by defeating nearest rival candidate by more than 40000 votes, and succeeded getting support from only 28 JDS MLAs.

HD Kumaraswamy is also President of the Karnataka State Unit of the Janata Dhal (Secular) since 2009. HD Kumarswamy became more popular to people of Karnataka especially to rurala area people by Janatha Darshana and Grama Vaastavya programmes.

Blaming Siddaramaiah for his “over-confidence”, Karnataka Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday said the Chief Minister was advised against contesting from two seats but he still went ahead.

He said the Congress did not do even 10 per cent of what the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did during the campaigning.

“Rahul Gandhi (Congress President) did his best to come here and campaign in the state in the past three months. But it is not a good sign for the local leaders, who could not gauge the trend in their own constituencies,” said Shivakumar.

Siddaramaiah decided to contest from the Badami and Chamundeshwari seats as he felt he knew the constituencies well even as he was “advised internally against doing so”, he said.

“The decision was taken by him (Siddaramaiah) because he knew the constituencies well. We became over-confident… internally we had advised him that he should represent only one constituency,” the Congress leader asserted.

Asked if it was Siddaramaiah’s “over-confidence”, Shivakumar said: “Sure…It is his confidence which has taken (us down) to this level.”

The Chief Minister is leading in the Badami seat, but is trailing in Chamundeshwari.

Asked whether Siddaramaiah was trying to reach out to the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), when he said he was open to a Dalit Chief Minister, Shivakumar said the party was keeping a tab on the numbers. “It is only after looking at the final figures that we will take a call.”

At the same time, he said the party was “definitely” open to reaching out to the JD-S. “Why not? We want BJP to remain out of power,” he said.

Shivakumar also denied there was any Modi wave in Karnataka, and said: “Our defects became their pluses.”

BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa was on Tuesday elected to the Karnataka Assembly from Shikaripura by 35,397 votes, the Election Commission announced.

Yeddyurappa, 75, defeated Congress nominee Goni Malatesha and seven others in his home constituency. This was the Bharatiya Janta Party leader’s eighth victory from Shikaripura since 1983.

Yeddyurappa, the BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Shivamogga district, has lost only the 1999 Assembly election.

An upbeat B.S. Yeddyurappa, the BJP’s Chief Ministerial nominee, would call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah in New Delhi on Wednesday and invite them to the swearing-in ceremony of the party’s new government in Karnataka, said an official on Tuesday.

“Yeddyurappa will leave for Delhi Tuesday night or Wednesday morning to meet Modi and Shah for inviting them to the swearing-in later this week,” state party spokesman S. Shantaram told IANS.

Besides Modi and Shah, many Central ministers, Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled states and party’s national leaders will be invited to attend the event, which will mark the return of the national party to Karnataka after five years.

“Our national and party leaders will decide on the date and time of Yeddyurappa’s oath-taking as the next Chief Minister in consultation with the Prime Minister’s Office and Shah’s office,” said Shantaram.

As the Raj Bhavan in the city centre is too small to accommodate so many VIPs, leaders from the state and thousands of cadres, the ceremony is likely to take place in front of the state’s legislative building (Vidhan Soudha) or at the Kanteerava sports stadium.

“Yeddyurappa and the party’s state unit will decide who and how many legislators will take oath as Cabinet ministers along with him in consultation with our party’s national leaders,” added Shantaram.

Yeddyurappa, who won from Shikaripura Assembly segment in Shivamogga district, was the party’s maiden Chief Minister in south India when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power for the first time in May 2008.

The 75-year-old strong Lingayat leader is currently the Lok Sabha member from Shivamogga constituency in the state’s Malnad region, about 300km from Bengaluru.

Though Yeddyurappa brought the party to power and made the party’s lotus symbol bloom in the south of Vindhyas, he was forced to step down in July 2011 after the state’s anti-graft watchdog (Lokayuktha) indicted him in a multi-crore mining scam that rocked Karnataka.

The Congress on Tuesday said it had offered its backing to the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) to form a government in Karnataka following a hung Assembly.

Party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the party had preliminary telephonic talk with both JD-S chief and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and his son and former Chief Minister. H.D. Kumaraswamy over government formation.

“They have accepted the offer,” Azad said in the company of outgoing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Assembly election took place on Saturday and the Bharatiya Janata Party finished as the single largest group in the 224-seat house. Two constituencies did not vote.

“We will meet the Governor and stake claim for government formation… Our numbers put together will be more than the BJP’s,” Azad said.