Karnataka: BJP leading in 16 seats, Cong ahead in 10

Bengaluru, June 4 (IANS) The BJP has established leads in 16 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka while its partner JD(S) was leading in two. The ruling Congress party was leading in 10 seats as the counting of votes was underway in 28 seats.

As the process of counting votes is reaching the final stage, the trends suggested that the Congress party managed to reach double digits in the state. The Congress has significantly gained in the Kalyan-Karnataka region, where the guarantees seemed to have worked in favour of the party.

The Congress is leading in Chikkodi, Koppal, Chamarajanagar, Bellary, Hassan, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Davanagere and Bengaluru Central seats. Sources said the party has won Chikkodi (Priyanka Jarkiholi), Koppal (K. Rajashekar Basavaraj Hitnal), Chamarajanagar (Sunil Bose), Bellary (E. Tukaram), Hassan (Shreyas M Patel) seats but the official declaration was pending.

The BJP is leading in Bijapur, Bagalkot, Belagavi, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Haveri, Shivamogga, Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, Dakshina Kannada, Mysuru- Kodagu, Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, Bengaluru North, Bengaluru South and Chitradurga seats.

The counting of Shivamogga (B.Y. Raghavendra), Bagalkot (P.C. Gaddigoudar), Belagavi (former CM Jagadish Shettar), Dharwad (Union Minister Pralhad Joshi), Tumakuru (V. Somanna) are complete and an official statement is yet to be made.

The BJP, which swept 25 seats in 2019, is struggling to reach 20 this time even after allying with the JD(S). However, the Congress, which was hopeful of bagging 15 to 18 seats, was leading in 10 seats.

The JD(S) is leading in the Kolar (Mallesh Babu) and Mandya (former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy) seats. Sources stated that the party has won both seats and an official declaration was to be made.