The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has registered its best ever performance in Karnataka, with almost a clean sweep of the State ruled by the coalition of its political opponents, the Janata Dal(S) and Congress.
The saffron party won 25 of the total 28 seats while another seat has been won by an Independent candidate supported by it. The BJP has reduced the ruling allies to a position of being content with just one seat each, as against a total of 11 seats won by them in 2014 and one more seat gained in bypolls last year.
Though the BJP’s tally has been a record high this time, its winning streak started in 2004 when it won 18 seats. It kept up the tempo, winning 19 and 17 seats respectively in 2009 and 2014 polls.