Possible rewrites:- Congress could win more seats than BJP in upcoming elections- Seat distribution: Congress may outperform BJP in parliament- Analysis suggests Congress might have an edge over BJP in seat count- Political forecast: Congress poised to overtake BJP in number of seats

Belagavi, a key city in the Lingayat belt of Karnataka, could give the Congress party an edge in the upcoming elections. The party has already received a demand from Lingayat community leaders to field at least 55 Lingayat candidates in the first two lists, and sources say they may meet this demand in the upcoming lists. The Congress party has already given 43 seats to Lingayats in the last two lists, and with one or two more lists to come, it is possible that the party may surpass its 2018 tally of fielding Lingayat candidates. This is good news for the Lingayat community, who may be turning away from the BJP following the news that their leader BS Yeddyurappa will not be the Chief Ministerial candidate. The Congress party’s own Lingayat leaders have welcomed the party’s advances towards the community, and hope that it will regain its position as the favourite party of the Lingayat community in the Lingayat belt. In 2018, the BJP fielded 55 Lingayat leaders and won 40 seats, but it remains to be seen whether they can repeat this success in the upcoming elections.