BJP leads in Karnataka vote count

Bengaluru: The BJP was ahead of the ruling Congress on Tuesday as officials counted the millions of votes polled in the Karnataka Assembly election, leaving the JD-S far behind, officials said.

Determined to make a comeback in its only southern bastion, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in 98 seats and the Congress in 91 of the 222 constituencies that went to the polls on Saturday.

The Janata Dal-Secular of former Prime Minister H.D. Dewe Gowda, which has been expected to play the role of a kingmaker in the event of a hung Assembly, was leading in 26 seats, reports from counting centres from across the state said.

Analysts said the BJP was leading in Lingayat dominated seats and the JD-S in Vokkaliga dominated areas. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was leading in Badami constituency and the BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa in Shikaripura.

Any party or grouping will have to have 113 seats to form a government.