The Karnataka elections results have marked a “BJP-free south India”, said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as his party returned to power in the state with an emphatic victory on Saturday. Kharge attributed the victory to the people of Karnataka.
"We started from Mekedatu (padayatra). Then came the Bharat Jodo Yatra from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir. We have won almost 99 per cent of the seats in the route in which Rahul Gandhi walked. I thank him for that,” he said addressing party workers.
Kharge said through the party's victory a new energy has emerged in the whole nation. “BJP used to taunt us and say that 'we will make Congress mukt Bharat'. Now the truth is that it is 'BJP mukt south India," he said.
The Congress chief further told party workers that they need to fight bigger battles in the coming elections if they want a democratic government.
"Ego does not stay for long. It is a democracy and we will have to listen to people and bow our heads before those who show us the right path. It is not a victory of anyone. This victory belongs to the people of the state. They decided and chose. That is why we got 136 seats - huge after 36 years,” Kharge said.
In the results declared on Saturday, the Congress won 135 seats while the BJP ended up with 65. The JD(S), the third player in the contest, won 19 seats in the 224-member assembly, while two seats were won by Independents, two were won by regional parties. Counting was still on in one seat, where the Congress was leading.