NEW DELHI: India’s major opposition Congress party was expected to win elections in the southern state of Karnataka on Saturday, ousting the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), TV stations said, providing a significant boost ahead of national elections next year.
The election is the first of five critical state elections this year, which are expected to set the tone for parliamentary elections in April and May 2024.
It is also the first major election clash between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP and the Congress since Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was convicted of defamation and lost his parliament seat in March.
The triumph will be the Congress’s second state victory in more than four years.
Karnataka, which was dominated by the BJP, voted on Wednesday, and the results were announced on Saturday.
According to the TV broadcasters, the Congress is expected to win roughly 130 seats against the BJP’s 65. To get a simple majority of the 224 members in the state legislature, a party must win 113 seats.
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