More than half of the MLAs in Karnataka Assembly have won with less than 50% of vote share in the recenly concluded assembly elections. DK Shivakumar, the Congress heavyweight MLA who saved the day for the party is among the winners who have got the highest vote share.

Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Karnataka Election Watch (KEW) have analyzed the vote share, margin of victory and representativeness for the 222 constituencies in the Karnataka Assembly Elections, 2018.

As per the report, out of the 222 winners 123 have won the election with less than 50% of vote share. 99 (45%) winners won with 50% and above of the total votes polled in their constituency.

The top 3 winners who have attained the highest vote share during the polls are R Akhanda Srinivasamurthy of the Congress who won from Pulakeshinagar with 77% vote share. DK Shivakumar also from the Congress won from Kanakapura with 69% votes while Dr Aswath Narayan C.N of the BJP won from Malleshwaram with 67% of the votes.

Out of 104 winners of BJP, 53 (51%) won with less than 50% of total votes polled in their constituencies. 48 (61%) out of 78 winners from INC; 19 (50%)out of 38 winners from JD(S); 1 (100%) winner each from KPJP and BSP have won with less than 50% of total votes polled in their constituency. 44 (57%) out of 77 winners with declared criminal cases have won with a vote share of 50% and above while 95(44%) out 215 crorepati winners have won with a vote share of 50% and above.

All the winners of the Karnataka State Assembly Elections won with an average of 36% of the total registered voters. This implies that the winners represent on an average, 36% of the total electorate. In the Karnataka State Assembly Elections, 2013 won by an average of 32% of the total registered votes. Out of 104 winners of BJP, 69(66%) have won less than 40% of votes of the total registered voters in the constituency. 61 (78%)out of 78 winners from INC; 15 (39%) out of 38 winners from JD(S); 1 (100%) winner each from KPJP and BSP have won less than 40 % of votes of the total registered voters in the constituency

49 out of 77 winners with declared criminal cases have won against a runner-up with a clean background. Among these 49 winners, 12 winners have won with more than 20 % margin of victory. Among these, Dr. Ashwat H Narayan CN (BJP) from Malleshwaram constituency won with 44% margin of victory. 18 out of 215 crorepati winners have won against a non-crorepati runner-up. Among these 18 winners, 7 winners have won with more than 20 % margin of victory. Among these, Mr. Yathindra S (INC) from Varuna constituency won with 33% margin of victory.

In the assembly Elections, 83 political parties and independents were in the fray. These included, 6 national political parties, 8 state political parties, and 69 registered unrecognized parties. In comparison, during the 2013 Karnataka State Assembly elections, 59 political parties were in the fray. These included, 6 national political parties, 7 state political parties, and 45 registered unrecognized parties. This reflects that there has been 41% increase in the number of political parties that contested in 2018 from 2013. The voter turnout for the Karnataka Assembly was 74% whereas voter turnout in 2013 assembly elections was 71%.