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Keywords: Exit Poll, Karnataka

New Delhi: He is the comeback man, if not of Indian politics, definitely of Karnataka politics. CNN-IBN-CSDS-Deccan Herald exit poll shows the keys to governance will be in the hands of JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda again.

Gowda and his Chief Minister son Kumaraswamy are again, crucially, third-placed in Karnataka and will decide who'll form the government.

This is the expected tally of the different political parties after the three phases of polling. As expected, the party is not willing to reveal its cards just now.

The hint, however, is that in case of any alliance, they would fight for the CM’s chair.

“We can be the kingmakers. Kumaraswamy will be the Chief Minister,” says JD(S) leader M C Nanaiah.

There has been a sharp decline in Congress fortunes with every passing week over the past month.

A CNN-IBN opinion poll in late April said the Congress was likely to go past the majority mark.

But fragmented voting with each of the six regions voting differently has taken away the comfortable lead the Congress enjoyed earlier.

None of the larger issues like stability, price rise and terror appeared to have impressed the electorate.

The Congress may have also lost out by failing to project a single chief ministerial candidate and Yeddyurappa remains the most popular chief ministerial candidate followed by Kumaraswamy.

Krishna comes a distant third. The party said that it would stick to its tradition of the CM being decided by the High Command

“It is only after the elections that the high command decides who will become the chief minister,” said President, Karnataka Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge.

Interestingly, the vote share remained almost the same as 2004, BJP gaining by a marginal two per cent. This did not translate into seats for the BJP. The BJP disputed the figures

“Both of these are giving us 105 and 109 and if your prediction can change so substantially in surveys, it will certainly change in polls,” says BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad.

So, Karnataka may be entering yet another period of uncertainty. Gowda and his sons will decide whether the political parties can offer a stable coalition unlike the bitter experience of last time.