BS Yeddyurappa, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka, has predicted he will take oath on May 17 as his party will win a comfortable majority in the ongoing Assembly elections on Saturday. His opponent, the incumbent Siddaramaiah, responded by calling him “mentally disturbed”.
“The BJP will win 145 to 150 seats,” Yeddyurappa said, according to the Hindustan Times. “I will fly to Delhi on [May] 15th once results for the Karnataka elections are announced, and will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I will invite him and others for the swearing-in ceremony which is going to happen most likely on [May] 17th.”
The counting of votes will take place on May 15. A total of 222 Assembly constituencies are voting on Saturday. If the BJP manages to come close to Yeddyurappa’s prediction, it will take away the last large state remaining with the Congress party.
When asked about his opponent’s statement, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told ANI: “Yeddyurappa is mentally disturbed. Congress will get more than 120 seats. I am very confident.”
The third major party in the fray, the Janata Dal (Secular), also appeared to be confident of winning enough seats all by itself. Party leader HD Kumaraswamy said the JD(S) would “cross the magic number on its own”.
The JD(S) has refused to openly back either the Congress or the BJP for the polls, and is likely to play kingmaker in the event of a hung Assembly.
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