"Setback for us, will comeback stronger in 2024 Lok Sabha polls": Karnataka Minister on BJP's defeat

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 13 : As the Congress crossed the halfway mark in the Karnataka Assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and State minister CN Ashwath Narayan on Saturday said that the outcome is a setback for the party but they will come stronger in the next year's Lok Sabha polls.

"This is a setback for us in Karnataka. We accept the verdict of the people. We will work much stronger and seek the blessing of the people and come out with flying colours. When it comes to the 2024 elections, we want to ensure that all our candidates win from all the 28 seats," he said.

Ashwath Narayan, who contested the Malleshwaram Assembly constituency, comfortably defeated his closest rival, Congress's Anoop Iyengar, by 41,302 votes.

Reacting to his victory, Narayan said, "I would wholeheartedly like to thank the people of Maleshwaram for blessing me and supporting me in a very big way."

"Their support will give me the strength going forward," he told .

Congress won an absolute majority in Karnataka on Saturday with the party crossing the magic figure of 113 seats in the 224-member assembly.

According to the latest trends of the Election Commission of India, Congress has won 122 seats and is leading in 14 more seats.

Jubilant Congress workers across the country started celebrations at party headquarters in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Bihar to distribute sweets.

They also danced in the streets to the tune of drums and waved flags.

Congress workers in Guwahati burst crackers and distributed sweets in celebration after the latest trends by the Election Commission of India (ECI) showed the party leading in the Karnataka Assembly elections.

Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hailed the party's victory in Karnataka assembly polls and said that people of the State defeated the politics of hate.

The Congress crossed the halfway mark in the trends and is well set to form the government in the state.

Addressing reporters at the Congress headquarters here in the national capital Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress stood in support of the poor. "The poor defeated crony capitalists in Karnataka. What I really liked about this election is that we did not fight the battle with hatred. We fought the elections with love...," he said.

"I want to thank all the party leaders and workers in Karnataka. Karnataka mein Nafrat ki bazaar band hui hai, Mohabbat ki dukaane khuli hai. We fought on the issues of the poor. We did not fight this battle using hatred and wrong words. This will happen in every state," Rahul Gandhi told the mediapersons here.

Rahul Gandhi coined the 'Nafrat ki bazaar band hui hai, Mohabbat ki dukaane khuli hai' phrase

"during the Bharat Jodo Yatra which he undertook last year and ended this year in Srinagar.

"Poor people defeated crony capitalists in Karnataka. We didn't fight this battle using hatred..." he said.