Karnataka Assembly Elections: Exit polls give Congress the edge over BJP

Voter turnout at all time high at 72.67%, betters the record set in the previous election

Most exit polls predicted that the Congress would edge past the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in a tight contest for the 224-member Karnataka Assembly, polling for which concluded on Wednesday.

The provisional polling data suggested Karnataka improving upon its all time best voter turnout of 72.36% set in 2018.

After the experience of urban apathy towards voting reducing the turnout to 55 per cent in Bengaluru city in 2018, the EC fixed Wednesday as the polling day to prevent people from taking an extended holiday, which was the case in 2018 as the polling took place on a Saturday. However,