With Congress heading for a clear majority, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) President DK Shivakumar got emotional, thanking party members and workers for its possible victory in the Assembly election. Breaking down while speaking to reporters on Saturday, May 13, DK Shivakumar said, “Thinking together is progress and working together is success. I assured Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge that I will deliver Karnataka to their fold. I thank all the party cadres and Congress leaders in Karnataka including Siddaramaiah who made it possible. The leaders who have supported us.”
He thanked every single Congress party worker and leader for their support, stating that a victory was possible due to their collective efforts. “I thank the collective leadership, the MLAs and office bearers at the block and booth-level, who have worked together for the success of the party. They have worked very hard. All of them are responsible for the success. People have utmost faith in us,” DK Shivakumar said. As of 1 pm, Congress won three constituencies and was leading in 129 constituencies, according to the Election Commission.
The Congress leader, who was arrested in 2019 in a money laundering case, said it was a ploy by the BJP to put him in jail. “I will never forget Sonia Gandhi, for coming to meet me when all the BJP leaders put me in jail. So I chose to be jailed rather than being in office. That is the confidence the Gandhi family, the Congress party and the entire country bestowed on me,” he added.
DK Shivakumar won from the Kanakapura constituency in Ramanagara district by a margin of over 40,000 votes on Saturday. He defeated B Nagaraju of the JD(S), who finished second in the contest. BJP Minister R Ashoka, who was fielded in two constituencies including Kanakapura, lost by a big margin. R Ashoka was also fielded in his home constituency of Padmanabhanagar, where he is leading. As of 12 pm, DK Shivakumar was leading by 46,485 votes. Nagaraju had secured 9,824 votes, and Ashoka had polled 9,091 votes, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI).