Karnataka election: Congress to be Single-largest party in hung assembly, predicts survey

Karnataka is heading towards a hung Assembly this year, an ABP News-CSDS opinion poll has projected just days before the high-stakes election in the state.

The ruling Congress could win 97 seats in a House of 225, while the BJP led by BS Yeddyurappa is projected to win 84 seats. The opinion poll projected former prime minister HD Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular) may emerge as the kingmaker with 37 seats.

The survey said the Congress will get 38 per cent of votes, the BJP 33 per cent and the JD (S), which has entered into a pre-poll alliance with the BSP, may get 22 per cent vote share.

The Congress remained favorite among the farmers of the state with 40 per cent of the respondents saying they would vote for the Siddaramaiah-led Congress while 31 per cent opted for BJP as their preference.

Other key observations

Siddaramaiah was the top choice for the chief ministerial post among the respondents with 33 per cent favouring the Karnataka Congress face. BJP's CM candidate BS Yeddyurappa got 27 per cent votes and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy received the support of 22 per cent of the people.

Development and performance remained the major concern for the people with 29 per cent of respondents highlighting the issue as their topmost concern.

The Lingayat cards played by the Congress has failed miserably, as 61 per cent of the Lingayats are likely to vote for the BJP despite Siddaramaiah's recommendation for the status of a minority religion.

29 percent of the respondents said they are "fully satisfied" while 43 per cent are "somewhat satisfied" with the Congress rule.