Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the Congress party will form a government in the state on its own after the party crossed the ‘magic number’, the halfway mark by mid-morning.
As the Congress inched closer to victory, the senior Congress leaders told reporters in Bangalore, "We will come to power on our own strength... Congress will win with over 120 seats." Siddaramaiah has been leading in Varuna constituency against BJP minister V Somanna, and has been predicting that Congress will emerge victorious with a 200-plus seat count. He also ruled out a coalition with former ally HD Kumaraswamy's Janata Dal Secular.
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Exit polls show the Congress leads hovering around 120, way ahead of the majority mark of 113 in the 224-member assembly. The party has summoned all its leaders to Bengaluru in an attempt to corral them and pre-empt any attempt at poaching.
Sources were quoted saying that the party has booked several resorts and hotels in and around Bengaluru. Congress flans on taking its MLAs to neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu, where it is part of the alliance government with MK Stalin's DMK. CM Bommai took a dig at the Congress party’s move saying that the party does not trust its own MLAs.
