Karnataka elections: Most exit polls predicted Congress ahead, fell short of gauging margin of party's victory

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 13 (ANI): As the counting of votes for the Karnataka assembly election on Saturday progressed, the trends seem to match some exit polls.
Most of the exit polls had given Congress an edge over the BJP in Karnataka after the May 10 elections.
The India Today-Axis My India exit poll was the closest as it predicted, 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. The India Today-Axis My India exit poll seemed quite close to the actual results.
According to the latest trends of the Election Commission of India, Congress has won 121 seats and is leading in 15 more seats. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 56 seats and is leading on eight others.
Janata Dal-Secular has won 18 seats and is leading on two. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha have won one seat each.
The Congress maintained a lead from the morning when counting began for the assembly seats in the fiercely contested election.
Congress won an absolute majority in Karnataka on Saturday with the party crossing the halfway mark of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly.
Congress was expected to have a clear edge in Karnataka in the assembly elections held on Wednesday with four exit polls giving it a full majority while some predicting a hung assembly with an advantage to the party.
A few exit polls also said that BJP was ahead and was likely to form the government.
The exit polls, 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, some of the exit polls predicted.
A party needs 113 seats for a majority in the 224-member Karnataka assembly.
The poll of polls showed an advantage for the Congress with the party poised to win 109 seats, BJP 91 seats and JDS 23.
News24-Today's Chanakya predicted Congress crossing the halfway mark. It said BJP was poised to win 92 seats, Congress 120 and JD-S 12 seats.
Times Now-ETG poll and India TV-CNX poll also predicted Congress hitting the majority mark. Times Now-ETG said BJP was expected to win 85 seats, Congress 113, JD-S 23 and others three.
India TV-CNX poll gave 80-90 seats to BJP, 110-120 to Congress, JD-S 20-24 and 1-3 to others.
Republic P-MARQ had predicted that Congress would get a 40 per cent vote share, BJP 36 per cent, JD(S) 17 per cent and seven per cent for independents and others.
The poll had predicted that no party would get the majority mark in Karnataka with BJP poised to get 85-100 seats, Congress 94-108, JD-S 24-32 and others 2-6 seats. (ANI)
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.
In the 2018 assembly elections, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party by winning 104 seats. Congress had bagged 80 seats and the JDS) got 37 seats. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) the Karnataka Pragyavantha Janata Party (KPJP) managed get one seat each. There was also an independent member. (ANI)