Bangalore, May 25 : The Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said that it will prefer to sit in the Opposition if it fails to secure a simple majority after the counting of votes cast in the recent State Assembly polls.

Though poised to emerge as the single largest party in Karnataka, the BJP’s Karnataka president Sadananda Gowda said it would not tie-up with the Janata Dal (Secular) if it failed to reach the magical figure of 113.

"We said it before the election that we will sit in the Opposition bench if we are not able to reach the magical figure of 113 and we still stand by it," Gowda said.

He also said that dissidents of the JD (S) are welcome to join the BJP.

"If they want to break away and join us, how can we stop them," Gowda said.

While early election trends show that BJP might just be able to reach the magical figure of 113 out of 224 seats in the Karnataka Assembly, the party might also fall short by a few seats.

"It is certain that we will form the government. We will get 113-117 seats," the state president said.

With BJP doing well in rural areas which was primarily strongholds of both the Congress and the JD (S), Gowda attributed its rise in these areas to the recent delimitation process.

"We have been able to get five to seven percent more seats in rural areas because of the delimitation process," he said. (ANI)