The Congress crossed the halfway mark of 113 to take the BJP’s lone stronghold in the south, Karnataka.
With just a few rounds of voting left for the 224-seat Karnataka assembly, the Congress raced ahead on 133 seats, while the BJP took 66.
Chief Minister and BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai conceded defeat and announced a detailed analysis of the results.
‘We have not been able to cross the mark. Once the results out, we will do a detailed analysis. We will find out the gaps and deficiencies, and we will reorganise the party and come back for the Lok Sabha elections,’ Mr Bommai said.
Former CM Jagadish Shettar, who quit the BJP after being denied to contest in the May 10 polls, was trailing in Hubballi-Dharwad Central by 2,614 votes, after being given a Congress ticket.
Congress Karnataka chief DK Shivakumar says that the party was always confident of a victory.
‘I had assured the Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Mallikarjun Kharge that I will deliver Karnataka,’ Shivakumar said.
The Janata Dal (Secular), which has played the role of kingmaker in the event of a hung verdict, was being seen in the role again.
It now appears to have taken a big hit in its vote share, taking only 25 seats at last count, as the Grand Old Party looks to form a single majority government.