Bengaluru: The Janata Dal (S) has lashed out at the media, and gone into a huddle as it braces for moves by the BJP to pull down its fragile coalition with the Congress in a fresh attempt at an Operation Kamala, as two more exit polls on Karnataka polls on Monday predicted a debacle for Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
Both Axis My-India and C-Voter are predicting a defeat for his son Nikhil Kumaraswamy, the JD(S) candidate, in Mandya where he is pitted against Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh. She had the backing of the BJP and Congress rebels.
If they prove true, there are also surprises waiting for the bigwigs of state politics.
The biggest shock of them all could come from Kalaburagi where Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge could face defeat at the hands of Dr Umesh Jadhav of the BJP going by the C-Voter survey while Axis-My India survey says it's a tough fight.
Both surveys predict the victory of Prajwal Revanna, JD(S) candidate and son of PWD Minister H.D. Revanna in Hassan. C-Voter feels JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda will win Tumakuru while Axis classified it as a tough fight. Former Union Minister V Srinivasaprasad (BJP) is likely to win Chamarajangar.
According to the Axis-My India survey, the BJP is likely to win 21 of the 28 LS seats in Karnataka, the Congress and JD(S) one each while one seat will be won by an Independent. A tough fight is on in four seats making them too close to call, namely Kalaburagi, Koppal, Tumakuru and Bangalore North.
The C-Voter has given 17 seats to the BJP, eight to Congress, two to JD(S) and one to an Independent (Sumalatha). The predictions also vary with Axis predicting the defeat of former
Union Ministers Veerappa Moily and K.H. Muniyappa from Chikkaballapur and Kolar respectively while C-Voter has given the thumbs up to the two candidates. Both agencies predict a victory for BJP candidates P.C. Mohan and Tejasvi Surya in Bangalore Central and Bangalore South. Axis-My India see a tough fight in Bangalore North where Sadananda Gowda of the BJP and Krishna Byregowda of the Congress are battling it out while C-Voter predicts a BJP victory.
