Jayanagar assembly polls: Congress takes early lead

Bengaluru (Karnataka): Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy takes initial lead from Karnataka's Jayanagar assembly constituency after the fourth round of counting.At the time of filing this report, Reddy was leading with 5348 votes, followed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate BN Prahlad.

The election was countermanded after the death of BJP candidate B.N. Vijayakumar, who was the sitting MLA from the seat. Currently, the party has fielded his brother B.N. Prahlad.Earlier on June 5, the Janata Dal (Secular) (JD-S) decided to support the Congress after withdrawing its candidate Kalegowda from the constituency.Sowmya Reddy is the daughter of heavyweight and former state minister R. Ramalinga Reddy.

The counting of votes for the 222 of the 224 assembly seats in the Karnataka state assembly took place on May 15.

The BJP had emerged as the single largest party in the state assembly with 104 seats, while the Congress and JD(S) garnered 78 seats and 37 seats respectively.

However, after days of high-political drama in the state, the Congress and the JD(S) came together and managed to form the government in the state in partnership.