evidence: The Congress party on May 13 clinched the State of Karnataka in a resounding victory over the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party-led government. With at least 135 seats in the bag, the party comfortably crossed the majority mark of 113 in an election widely seen as a litmus test for both parties ahead of the 2024 parliamentary polls. Meanwhile, the BJP government won only 65 seats with CM Basavaraj Bommai conceding defeat early in the day. Early celebrations broke out at the Opposition headquarters in Bengaluru and Delhi as election trends all day signalled towards Congress wresting Karnataka from BJP — the saffron party’s only bastion in southern India. Congress president M Mallikarjun Kharge dubbed the victory as ‘BJP Mukt Dakshin Bharat’ (BJP free South India). The party plans to hold its Legislative Party meeting the next day to finalise on the Chief Ministerial candidate.