No, BJP didn't lose 58 seats by a margin of less than 2,000 votes in Karnataka polls

Context

The Congress defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently concluded Karnataka Assembly election, winning 135 of 224 seats. The Congress is all set to form the government, while the ruling BJP secured 66 seats. On May 18, Congress announced that former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would once again take charge, with DK Shivakumar as deputy chief minister.

Against this backdrop, several users on social media claimed that BJP lost 58 seats with a margin of less than 2,000 votes and 41 seats with a margin of 1,000 votes. They added: "Most H's do not see a civilizational threat anywhere For Hindus FAITH is secondary vs material benefit Hence, freebies rock!" The post has garnered over 34,000 views and 679 likes. Another social media user making the same claim added a communal narrative, writing: "Every Muslim of Karnataka Left all work and voted first...Some Hindus celebrated their own destruction by considering the election day as a holiday and did not go to vote.."

In Fact

According to the Election Commission of India, there were only 12 seats in the Karnataka assembly elections, where the winning margin was less than 2,000 votes. Of these, BJP lost five seats with a margin of fewer than 1,000 votes, while Congress lost the other seven - three with a margin of fewer than 1,000 votes and the other four with a margin of between 1,000 to 2,000 votes.

Here is the list of constituencies where the winning margin was less than 2,000 votes.

BJP Wins:

Nargund - BJP defeated Congress by a margin of 1,791 votes

Humnabad - BJP defeated Congress by a margin of 1,594 votes

Bidar South - BJP defeated Congress by a margin of 1,263 votes

Hadagalli - BJP defeated Congress by a margin of 1,444 votes

Chincholi - BJP defeated Congress by a margin of 858 votes

Jayanagar - BJP defeated Congress by a margin of 16 votes

Kumta - BJP defeated JD(S) by a margin of 676 votes

BJP Losses:

Gandhinagar - BJP lost to Congress by a margin of 105 votes

Jagalur - BJP lost to Congress by a margin of 874 votes

Malur - BJP lost to Congress by a margin of 248 votes

Mudigere - BJP lost to Congress by a margin of 722 votes

Sringeri - BJP lost to Congress by a margin of 201 votes

According to a report by The Times of India, there were 153 seats where the winning margin was higher than 10,000 votes. Congress secured 65 percent of those seats, while BJP obtained 24 percent.

The Verdict

There were only 12 seats in the Karnataka election where the winning margin was less than 2,000 votes. Out of these, BJP won seven seats and lost five. Data from the Election Commission of India proves that the viral post is incorrect. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.