Karnataka election results 2018: Will kingmaker be the king? BJP says will prove majority in house

A day after Karnataka election results left Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP a few seats short of a full majority, the party is pulling out all the stops to get the support of some MLAs from JD(S) in a bid to get past the halfway mark on the floor of the house.

With the ball in Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala's court, BJP is trying its best to woo the MLAs from both the Congress and JD(S). H D Kumaraswamy, the son of JD(S) leaderformer Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, had on Tuesday accepted the Congress party's offer to become the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, BJP CM candidate Yeddyurappa, following his meeting with the Governor, said that BJP will prove the majority on the floor of the house.

Dashing the hopes of BJP, Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday offered a deal to the JD(S) of forming a post-poll alliance with HD Kumaraswamy as the state chief minister. The Congress high command's decision comes amid the grand old party losing grip as the saffron surge continues unabated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm. This twist in the tale spoilt the celebrations of BJP cadres on the emergence of the BJP as the single largest party in the state.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was sent to Karntaka to deal with the situation, reached out to JD(S) chief and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. Azad has said they will approach the governor later in the evening to form the next government. "We have had a telephonic talk with both Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy. They have accepted that JDS will head the government. Hopefully, by this evening, we will go together to the Governor and give the letter in writing to form the government," said.

According to India Today TV sources, if the Congress party does manage to form the next government, it is likely to get 20 cabinet seats while JD(S) wants 14 seats. The Congress will get deputy chief minister's post.

Yesterday's results saw the Congress lead in the first hour, but the BJP crawled back and the two parties were neck and neck. However, the BJP, marched forward and crossed the 100-seats mark. The Congress won 78 seats.

Here are the Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 Live Updates:10:00 am: India Today's Nagarjun Dwarkanath from Bengaluru reports that as many as 120 rooms have been booked for Congress MLAs in city's Eagleton resort. Whereas other sources suggest that the BJP is in talks with 12 JD(S) MLAs who are disgruntled with the alliance.