Amid the counting of votes in the Assembly elections in Karnataka, five independent candidates are in touch with the Congress. Independent candidate K.H. Puttaswamy Gowda (KHP) is leading by 11,000 votes from Gauribidanur seat in Karnataka. Speaking to ABP Live he said that he will talk about extending support to Congress after the results.
According to Election Commission Priyank Kharge of Congress is leading in the early trends from Chittapur seat. He is closely followed by Bharatiya Janata Party's Manikanta Rathod. The counting of votes will start at 8 am across 36 designated centres in the southern state, the Election Commission informed.
According to the Election Commission (EC), Karnataka recorded a 73.19 per cent voter turnout in the May 10 assembly elections, the highest-ever voter turnout in the southern state. Polling was held across 58,545 polling stations to elect the members in the 224-seat Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The majority mark needed to form the government is 113. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai exuded confidence in Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) return to power in Karnataka.