Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023 Exit Polls vs Results: Surveys predicted hung assembly while Congress gains majority

New Delhi: The results for the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023 were announced by the Election Commission on May 13. Congress swept the polls with 136 seats and is set to form the government with a clear majority. While most of the exit polls predicted a hung assembly and Janata Dal (Secular) to be the deciding factor, the real picture was quite different.

While a majority of the exit polls predicted 100-110 seats for Congress, the party won with a whopping 136 seats.

Karnataka Assembly Elections Results 2023

#WATCH | Celebration at Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee office in Bengaluru as Congress sweeps #KarnatakaPolls pic.twitter.com/buLnG9KCWK

— ANI (@ANI) May 13, 2023

Congress is set to form the government with 136 seats while BJP emerged to be on the losing side with 65 seats out of the 224. JD(S) managed 19 seats with two independent candidates winning. Local parties KRPP and SKP also won a seat each.

Exit Polls 2023

Matarize predicted a hung house with a slight chance of Congress gaining the majority. The agency predicted that Congress will win 103-118 seats, BJP 79-94, and JD(S) 23-33.  C-Voter took a wider margin and went on with a hung assembly. ABP-C Voter predicted 81-101 seats for Congress, 66-86 for BJP, and 20-27 for JD(S).

Meanwhile, India Today-Axis My India got it right with the prediction of Congress winning 122-140 seats, BJP getting 62-80, and JD(S) winning 20-25 seats.

@AxisMyIndia delivers another #Exact #ExitPoll of #karnatakaAssemblyElections2023 @PradeepGuptaAMI @sardesairajdeep @rahulkanwal @chitraaum @anjanaomkashyap @SwetaSinghAT @aroonpurie @aajtak @IndiaToday @ShivAroor @gauravcsawant pic.twitter.com/GyF3P6r4zb

— Axis My India (@AxisMyIndia) May 13, 2023

Karnataka Assembly Elections Results 2018

In the 2018 Assembly Polls, BJP emerged as the largest party with 104 seats while Congress and JD(S) won 78 and 37 seats respectively.

When BJP’s CM candidate BS Yediyurappa was unable to prove a majority, Congress and JD(S) formed a coalition government. The tables turned when 16 Congress MLAs resigned and an individual MLA turned in favour of BJP. With majority number now changed to 105, BJP formed the government with Basavaraj Bommai as the Chief Minister of the state.

Exit Polls 2018

In 2018, ABP-C Voter almost got it right by predicting 104-116 seats for BJP, 83-94 for Congress, and 20-29 for JD(S). On the other hand, Axis My India predicted 79-92 seats for BJP while Congress was winning 106-118 seats and was predicted to make the government.