BJP karnataka Party state president Nalin Kumar Kateel said, "I take responsibility for the defeat as the state president. I will work responsibly as a good opposition party in the state."
"As the results firm up in Karnataka it is now certain that the Congress has won and the PM has lost. The BJP had made its election campaign a referendum on the PM and on the state getting his 'ashirwaad'. That has been decisively rejected!", Jairam Ramesh tweeted.
As the counting of votes is underway on Saturday for the Karnataka Assembly elections, Congress has won 79 seats while leading in 57 constituencies, according to the Election Commission (EC) data.
After trends showed Bharatiya Janata Party losing the southern state it had, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai on Saturday said that the party will take the verdict in its 'stride'.
"I want to thank all the party leaders and workers in Karnataka. Karnataka mein Nafrat ki bazaar band hui hai, Mohabbat ki dukaane khuli hai. We fought on the issues of the poor. We did not fight this battle using hatred and wrong words. This will happen in every state," Rahul Gandhi told
Speaking to the reporters, Baghel said "First we won Himachal Pradesh and then we won Karnataka...They used to speak of 'Congress mukt-Bharat' but now South India is 'BJP-mukt'."
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said the party's victory in Karnataka is an outcome of "collective work" of party leaders and workers and that the party would work towards consensus to choose its chief ministerial candidate
As the grand old party surged ahead on Saturday according to leads of the Karnataka assembly elections, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) leader BS Yediyurappa said victory and defeat are not new for the party and it will introspect the setback.
"This is the victory of Karnataka people against the Prime Minister and defeat of the BJP's politics over religion. This is the victory of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi against the narrative of PM Modi and Amit Shah. This is the victory of all suffering endured by Rahul Gandhi during B