As the Congress attempted to strike up a deal with the Janata Dal (Secular) and keep the Bharatiya Janata Party out of power in Karnataka, its lead in 10 seats was still precarious. The outcome in these seats may end up deciding if the two would have the numbers to form the government.

The party had a lead of less than 2% in Maski, Yeshvanthapura, Yellapur, Athani, Gadag, Sringeri, Sindhanur, Jamkhandi, Vijay Nagar and Yemkanmardi at 3.22 pm. The party was ahead of the BJP in nine of these seats. In Badami, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah edged out BJP’s B Sreeramulu after maintaining a narrow lead throughout.

Siddaramaiah said the JD(S) could form the government and that the details would be discussed later. Congress leader KC Venugopal said the party and Janata Dal (Secular) would jointly meet the governor on Tuesday evening.