Karnataka by-elections: The BJP leads are proving exit polls right

Bengaluru, Dec 09: The BJP appears to be cruising through in the Karnataka by-elections. Of the 15 seats that polled last week, the BJP is leading in 10 seats.

The BJP needs to win 6 of the 15 seats to retain power. The party also enjoys the support of an independent lawmaker. In the current assembly the party has 105 of the 208 seats.

The strength of the assembly was reduced following the disqualification of 17 MLAs. This development led to the toppling of the JD(S)-Congress government which was headed by H D Kumaraswamy. The two parties with a combined strength of 101 seats will need to win at least 12 seats in order to be able to form the government in Karnataka.

The issue relating to the disqualification had reached the Supreme Court. The court had upheld the disqualification, but held that the decision of the Speaker to bar the MLAs from re-contesting the elections until the term of the assembly got over was bad in law.

The exit polls had predicted that the BJP would win anything between 8 to 12 seats. For now the exit polls appear to be spot on and the BJP is maintaining a steady lead in 10 seats.