Basavaraj Bommai resigns as Karnataka CM after BJP's defeat

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost the Karnataka Assembly elections, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday tendered his resignation to Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot. "I have tendered my resignation and it has been accepted," Bommai told reporters.

Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai had conceded defeat as trends showed a massive Congress surge.He said BJP will emerge victorious in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Bommai won with a margin of 35,978 votes from Shiggaon constituency but many of his ministerial colleagues lost.

"...I take responsibility for this debacle. There are multiple reasons for this. We will find out all the reasons and strengthen the party once again for Parliament elections..," he said. According to the Election Commission of India, Congress won 136 seats pushing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power in the only southern state it ruled and boosting its own prospects for the electoral battles ahead.

BJP managed to win 65 seats. Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) bagged 19 seats. Independents have won two seats while Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha won one seat each. The Congress maintained a lead from the morning when counting began for the assembly seats in the fiercely contested election.

With the Congress' emphatic victory in the Karnataka elections on Saturday, ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power in the only southern state ruled by it, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said the election results marked a "BJP-free South India". "It is a big victory. Through this, new energy emerged in the whole nation. BJP used to taunt us and say that 'we will make Congress mukt Bharat'. Now the truth is that it is 'BJP mukt south India," said Kharge.

Pertinent to mention, the Karnataka election was a major victory for Congress after Kharge assumed as party president earlier this year. An incumbent government has not returned to power in Karnataka after a full term of five years since 1985.

In the 2018 assembly polls, BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats, Congress won 80 seats and JD(S) got 37 seats. The Congress victory has come at a time when it is seeking momentum ahead of assembly polls later this year in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana and the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Congress over its victory in assembly polls. He appreciated the hard work of BJP workers and said that the party will serve Karnataka with even more vigour in the times to come "Congratulations to the Congress Party for their victory in the Karnataka Assembly polls. My best wishes to them in fulfilling people's aspirations," PM Modi said in a tweet.

"I thank all those who have supported us in the Karnataka elections. I appreciate the hardwork of BJP Karyakartas. We shall serve Karnataka with even more vigour in the times to come," he added. Karnataka went to the polls on May 10 for the 224-member state assembly and saw a record polling of 72.68 per cent. A party needs 113 seats to get the majority.