Congress appeared to be consolidating its lead after crossing the halfway mark in Karnataka assembly polls with the party leading on 117 seats according to early trends of results. According to the latest data from Election Commission, the BJP is leading on 75 seats, Janata Dal (Secular) on 25, Independents on 5 and Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha on one each. The party is maintaining almost seven per cent lead over the BJP in vote share. The counting of votes began at 8 am amid tight security across the state. Trends are now available for all 224 assembly seats in the state. The Congress has a vote share of 43 per cent while it is 36 per cent for BJP and 13 per cent for JD(S). The halfway mark in assembly is 113. There were celebrations at Congress headquarters in Delhi in anticipation of victory. Former Karnataka CM and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy visited a temple in Bengaluru amid the counting of votes for Karnataka polls. He is leading from Channapatna assembly constituency. BJP’s Mahesh Tenginkai isleading while Congress leader Jagadish Shettar is trailing Hubli-Dharwad Central Assembly constituency. Shettar, a former Karnataka Chief Minister, had left the BJP and joined Congress after denial of ticket. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited a Lord Hanuman temple in Shimla.(ANI)
