Verdict shows secularism won: Karnataka CM

Bengaluru : Karnataka Chief Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday termed the verdict in five Assembly elections a victory for secular parties.

"The voters' verdict in the five Assembly polls is a sign that the country is heading for secular parties," Kumaraswamy said in a statement.

The results are indicative of the people's trust in secular parties for the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, he added.

Former Prime Minister and JD-S supreme H.D. Deve Gowda claimed that the electorate had made the nation "arrogance free" by voting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out.

"The intentions of making India ' Congress-free', 'opposition-free' shows the arrogance of BJP. The people have made this nation 'arrogance-free' by voting out BJP," tweeted Gowda.

"At least now, the BJP should put some efforts to make this nation 'problem-free' and stop the unwanted 'travel-spree'," he added.

State unit Congress President Dinesh Gundu Rao tweeted: "I hope the BJP and its arrogant pompous leaders like Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Arun Jaitley will henceforth stop talking about a Congress mukt Bharat."