New Delhi: Exit polls for the Karnataka assembly elections – voting for which was held today – suggest no party will win an absolute majority but give the Bharatiya Janata Party a definite edge over the incumbent Congress with a possibility of the Janata Dal (Secular) emerging as the kingmaker.According to the Republic TV-Jan Ki Baat and ABP-C Voter polls, the BJP is likely to emerge as the single largest party, winning 104 and 104-116 seats respectively in the 224-member Vidhan Soudha.The two news channels gave the incumbent Congress 78 and 83-94 seats and the former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda-led JD(S) 37 and 20-29 seats respectively.Polling was held on Saturday in 222 constituencies following the countermanding of election for the Jayanagara seat due to the death of BJP candidate B.N. Vijaykumar, and deferment of voting for the RR Nagar seat after a massive row erupted over a large number of voter ID cards being found in a Bengaluru apartment.Turnout, according to the Election Commission, was 70%, down from 71.4% in 2013.Any party or alliance will need the support of 112 MLAs to form the new government and political analysts give the BJP the upper hand even if the Congress wins more seats when it comes to wooing the JD(S) into a coalition governmentThe one bright spot for the Congress in an otherwise dismal set of forecasts was the India Today-Axis exit poll, which put the party in first position and predicted its tally in the range of 106-118 seats while of the BJP between 79-92. The same poll put the JD(S) tally at between 22-30 seats.The ‘poll of exit polls’ on NDTV– based on an average of exit poll surveys – forecast 97, 90 and 31 seats for the BJP, the Congress and the JD(S) respectively.Times Now-VMR predicted that the BJP will win 94 seats while the Congress will bag 97 and the JD(S) 28.However, Today’s Chanakya forecast a majority for the BJP with 120 seats and gave the Congress and the JD(S) 73 and 26 seats respectively.The Congress had won 122 seats in the 2013 state Assembly polls following a split in the BJP, which was reduced to 40 seats while the JD(S) also got 40 seats.Both the BJP and the Congress ran a high-decibel campaign in the state with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the saffron charge with 21 rallies while Rahul Gandhi and chief minister Siddaramaiah led their bid to ensure that the Congress defies anti-incumbency to retain power.The BJP has declared B.S. Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate.In the 2013 election, the Congress won 36.6% of the popular vote, while the BJP polled 19.9%. However, the breakaway party – Karnataka Janata Paksha – formed by Yeddyurappa polled 9.8% while the BSR Congress, another breakaway group from the BJP, recorded a 2.7% vote share.In the 2018 elections, all breakaway groups returned to the BJP, giving it a vote base of 32.4%.(With PTI inputs)