In what might turn out to be disturbing and embarrassing for the Congress Party’s high-command, some pre-poll surveys ahead of the impending Karnataka Assembly polls have indicated the possibility of a ‘hung Assembly’ emerging after the Assembly polls.  Ruling Congress in Karnataka, however, is tipped to emerge as the single-largest party after the polls.

Though the BJP had increased its vote bank considerably in the past year or so, it still hasn’t done enough or earned the trust of enough people to replace Congress in the post-poll scenario, surveys point out.  Siddaramaiah, the Congress chief-minister, might have scored ‘heavily’ on the Cauvery river water front, by opposing ‘tooth and nail’ the BJP-led Centre’s plan to set up a Board to supervise water-sharing process.

In the 224-member Assembly, Congress might win 90-100 seats and may fall short by 15-20 seats in winning a simple majority, it is predicted.  The BJP, which has done very well in all the Assembly polls in the country since 2014 but had fared poorly in Lok Sabha by-polls, sees Karnataka as a ‘great opportunity’ to take strong roots in Southern India paving way for spreading tentacles in Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well.

The survey, conducted by ‘India Today’, reveals that 35% of the electorate would opt for the BJP to replace the Congress from power; this is a 2% increase from the 33% votes the BJP got in 2013.  Congress is likely to retain its old 37% of votes but would still fall short by 10-15 seats in securing the majority. With the BJP predicted to win from 70-80 seats, chances are that Karnataka would surely have a ‘hung Assembly’!