Bengaluru, April 23: The opinion poll conducted by Times Now-VMR predicts a hung assembly outcome in the upcoming Karnataka legislative elections 2018. The survey predicts the Congress to emerge as the single-largest party following the results being announced, closely followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Congress is likely to win 90 seats, the opinion poll said, whereas, the BJP could improve its tally upto 89. Both the parties, however, will fall short of the halfway majority mark, which is 112, the pre-election survey noted.

Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (Secular) of HD Deve Gowda is expected to maintain its hold on 40 seats.

In terms of vote share, the Congress is predicted to bag the largest - 38.6 per cent of the votes, whereas, the BJP is expected to trail behind by a significant 3 percentage points. The electoral share of the saffron party is predicted to be 35.03 per cent.

The JD(S), on the other hand, which has tied up with the BSP to attract the Dalit voters, is expected to grab 21.33 per cent of the voteshare, the survey added.

The remainder of the electoral share is expected to be secured by the Independents, who are also predicted to win 4 seats.

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018: Times Now-VMR Opinion Poll Results

Party Seats Predicted (2018) Seats Won (2013) Segments’ Swing
Congress 90 122 -32
BJP 89 40 +49
JD(S) 40 40 0
Others 4 22 -18

The pre-poll survey is close on lines with the opinion poll released by India Today-Karaviya group in the first week of April, similarly predicting a hung assembly post the Karnataka assembly elections 2018 results get announced. The survey said the Congress could be winning 90-102 seats, followed by the BJP which could bag 72-86. The JD(S) was predicted to maintain its grip on 40 seats.

If the opinion poll results turn out to be accurate, the JD(S) would be poised to play the kingmaker role. However, senior JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy said his party would neither join hands with the "corrupt Congress", nor the "communal BJP".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 23, 2018 10:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).