By IANS,
Bangalore: When the BJP came to power for the first time in Karnataka in 2008, it won 110 seats in the polls to the 225-member assembly — but what a defeat it suffered Wednesday when it lost 70 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) crushing defeat took the Congress tally to 121, a gain of 41 seats over its 2008 bag of 80 seats.
The Janata Dal-Secular, too, increased its numbers from 28 to 40 in the assembly.
With one result yet to be officially announced late Wednesday night, the BJP had won 39 seats and was ahead in one.
The fledgling Karnataka Janata Party, headed by former BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa, won six seats, while another new outfit floated by former BJP minister B. Sriramulu took four seats.
The Samajwadi Party won one seat, marking its presence in the assembly for the first time.
The rest were taken by Independents.
The CPI(M), which contested 17 seats, failed to win any.
Voting took place Sunday for 223 of the 224 elected seats in the 225-member assembly that includes one nominated member. Polling has been countermanded in Periyapatna constituency in Mysore district following the death of the BJP candidate.