INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in a tweet, told Congress workers "we are coming back"Bengaluru:
"Don't worry about exit polls," was Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's message to Congress workers and supporters, the morning after forecasters
pointed towards a hung house in Karnataka with the BJP as the single largest party, followed by the Congress
Calling the exit polls "entertainment for the next 2 days", the Chief Minister's Sunday morning tweets exhorted party workers to "enjoy the
weekend" since "we are coming back".An aggregate of nine exit polls shows the BJP will get 97 seats and the Congress 90 seats - considerably
below the 112 needed for majority for the 222 seats on which elections were held on Saturday
It gives 31 seats to the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda's Janata Dal D(Secular) or JD(S)
The counting of votes will take place on Tuesday. On Saturday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told TheIndianSubcontinent that he was "very
confident" of the Congress retaining power, adding that it will have "have majority" in the state where no party had been allowed two
consecutive terms in power for more than three decades.Asked if he would seek help from former prime minister HD Deve Gowda in case of a
hung assembly, he told TheIndianSubcontinent, "The situation does not arise."The support of the JD(S), according to exit polls, will be
crucial for government formation, putting it in the kingmaker's spot
While five exit polls predict that the BJP will be the single largest party, four have given the spot to the Congress.Mr Siddaramaiah, who
joined the Congress after getting expelled from the JD(S) in 2005 over differences of opinion with Mr Gowda, has repeatedly criticised his
former boss during the campaign
His party has accused Mr Gowda's party of tacitly colluding with the BJP in Chamundeshwari, where the Chief Minister contested from; he has
won five times and lost twice
Expecting a tough fight there, Mr Siddaramaiah had reportedly asked the Congress for a safe seat as a backup
Badami in north Karnataka, the second seat where he contested from this time, is said to be "Plan B".
