Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that the results of the Karnataka bye-elections show that the people of the country trust only the Bharatiya Janata Party to bring about stability and development in the country. He made the remark while addressing an election rally in Jharkhand.

“The Karnataka bye-poll results have sent three messages,” Modi said in Bokaro. “First, the people of the country want a stable government. Second, the masses teach a lesson to the Congress and its allies, who betray the mandate of the people. Third, the people trust only the BJP to bring about stability and development.”

The BJP on Monday won 12 out of the 15 seats in the bye-elections held in Karnataka. The party needed to win at least six seats to remain in power in Karnataka. The Congress won two seats.

Narendra Modi had earlier in the day hailed the results as a “victory for public opinion and also for democracy”. “During the Karnataka elections, the people there voted for the BJP to form the government,” he said. “Today, people have made sure that Congress or Janata Dal (Secular) will not be able to betray the people there.”

Congress leader Siddaramaiah stepped down as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party following his party’s defeat in the bye-elections. State Congress President Dinesh Gundu Rao also resigned from his position.

The bye-polls were necessitated to fill 15 of the 17 vacancies created by the mass resignations of rebel Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) MLAs in July. Elections to two constituencies – Muski in Raichur district, and RR Nagar in Bengaluru – were not held because of ongoing cases in the Karnataka High Court challenging the results in the May 2018 elections.

Meanwhile, the Jharkhand Assembly elections are being held in five phases starting November 30. The results for all 81 seats will be announced on December 23. The BJP, which won the 2014 polls, is contesting the elections without any ally in the state.