Chief minister-elect BS Yeddyurappa greets party MLA Shoba Karandlaje at his residence in Bangalore on Monday. The BJP was all set to form the new government in Karnataka after securing the magic number of 113 with the support of three Independents. Bangalore News Photos

Bangalore, May 26: Had the Congress joined hands with the Janata Dal (Secular) in a pre-poll alliance, as some in Karnataka wanted, the combine could have bested the BJP in 55 of the 110 seats painted saffron after yesterday’s results.

The BJP polled more than the Congress and the JD(S) taken together in 55 of the 224 Assembly seats.

But in the remaining 55 seats the party won, the verdict could have been different had the Congress and the JD(S) tied up before the polls.

The total votes polled by the two parties in these seats is more than that secured by the BJP.

In Ranibennur, Chincholi and Mudhol, for instance, the Congress-JD(S) together polled a few hundred votes more than the BJP. In 10 others, such as Bailhongal, Sagar and Shimoga rural, the “combine” got between 500 and 2,500 votes more. In 10 others, like Hangal, Raybag and Badami, the Congress-JD(S) was ahead by 2,500-5,000 votes.

In 11 constituencies, the two parties together polled between 5,000-10,000 more votes than the victorious BJP candidates did. In as many as 15 seats like Chikamagalur, Kolar Gold Fields and Hollalkere, the difference was between 10,000 and 20,000 votes.

In six seats where there was a three-way fight, the “combine” could have won by a margin of over 20,000. Among them are Nelamangala and Yelahanka in Bangalore district, and Harihar and Dharwad.

The BJP, which is set to form its first independent government in the south, also trails the Congress in vote share. The Congress, which contested 222 seats and won 80, obtained 34.6 per cent of the votes polled. The BJP, which fielded candidates in all the seats and bagged 110, has secured 33.9 per cent. The JD(S), which won 28 seats having contested 219, ended up with 19.1 per cent of the vote share.

A section of the Congress, led by former chief minister Dharam Singh, had favoured an alliance with the JD(S).

But with the party accommodating Siddaramaiah, R.V. Deshpande, Ramesh Kumar and M.P. Prakash from the Janata stable at different times in the last eight-nine years — and after an exodus a few months ago — the high command decided against an alliance of any kind with the JD(S), a Congress leader said.

Dharam Singh himself lost by only 72 votes to Doddappa Goudar of the BJP in Jewargi, which had elected him eight times on the trot.

Another former chief minister, H.D. Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), sought to downplay the party’s poor show, saying “there was never an end” in politics.

“There is always a fresh beginning,” he said, an indication that the two parties could look at a post-poll alliance.

A post-poll alliance would take their combined tally to 108, tantalisingly close to the majority mark of 113.

Sandeep Shastri, national coordinator, Lok Niti Network, a network of political scientists who conduct election-related surveys, agreed that the BJP owed its victory to opposition disunity, a factor that used to help the Congress in the sixties and the seventies.