Bengaluru: As counting goes on for the high stakes Karnataka assembly election, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's son Priyank Kharge has won from Chittapur 40 assembly seat defeating BJP candidate Manikanta Rathore by a margin of over 13,000 votes, officials said. According to the figures issued by the Election Commission, Priyank Kharge secured a total of 81,088 votes when the last round of counting ended on the seat.
His nearest rival, Manikanta Rathore has secured a total of 67,450 votes. Earlier, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar defeated BJP leader and Minister R Ashoka on the Kanakapur assembly seat. Congress had won 77 seats while it was leading on 53 more seats when reports last came in.
Also read: Karnataka Assembly Results 2023: DK Shivakumar breaks down addressing media over Congress win
The grand old party looks comfortably placed well ahead of the halfway mark in the 224-seat Karnataka assembly. The Congress carried out an aggressive campaign against the incumbent BJP government in the state and sought to corner it over issues of corruption, unemployment and inflation. It was reflected in the Congress manifesto titled 'Sarva Janagada Shantiya Thota' (Paradise of Peace to All).
The party has promised 200 units of free electricity, Rs 3,000 per month for two years to unemployed graduates and Rs 1,500 per month to unemployed diploma holders if voted to power in the state. The Congress manifesto also proposed to ban the Viswa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) Baj Rang Dal comparing it with the banned Popular Front of India (PFI), a radical Islamic outfit, while announcing its commitment to ban any organisation that promotes "enmity or hatred" among different communities.
