"Was expecting 14 plus in Karnataka, people gave a message": Congress' DK Shivakumar

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 4 (ANI): Senior Congress leader and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said on Tuesday that he expected the party to win more than 14 seats but the people "have given a message" as the party managed to win only nine seats in the state in the Lok Sabha elections.
He said that the party would look into the results of the Lok Sabha elections, as he pointed out the decrease in the number of seats won by the BJP at the national level compared to the 2019 general elections.
"As the KPCC president, I respect people's blessings. BJP and their team didn't get 400+. From one Lok Sabha seat, we reached nine in Karnataka. In my constituency (Bengaluru Rural), the BJP's CN Manjunath has won. People have given us a message. I was expecting 14+ seats in Karnataka. We will find out why we didn't get more seats. But the Modi wave is down. In Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, the NDA Alliance got some support. In Ayodhya, the BJP has lost the election. Last time NDA was at 303 but now it's at 294 seats," DK Shivakumar said on Tuesday.
Even as the Congress won the Assembly elections comfortably in Karnataka, the BJP managed a clear majority in the Lok Sabha elections in the state, taking its tally to 17. However, the BJP won 26 seats in the 2019 general elections in Karnataka.
Janata Dal (Secular), which contested as an ally with the BJP in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), won two seats, taking the total tally of the alliance to 19.
The Congress managed to win seven seats this time, improving its performance compared to the 2019 general elections, when the party won a single seat.
At the national level, as per the ECI data, NDA is leading or has won 291 seats while the INDIA bloc is leading or has won 234 seats. As per the latest ECI data, BJP won 203 seats and is leading on 37 seats and the Congress party is leading on 20 seats and won 79 seats. (ANI)