Congress' Dinesh Gundu Rao leading in Gandhi Nagar ahead of JD(S) candidate

Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], May 15 (ANI): As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is inching closer towards a resounding victory in the Karnataka Assembly Elections, Congress Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao, is leading from Gandhi Nagar constituency by 6143 votes over his JDS rival V. Narayanasamy.

Counting of votes began at 8 a.m. for 222 out of 224 assembly constituencies in 58,546 polling stations in the state.

As per the official data by the Election Commission, at the time of filing this report, the BJP was leading in 106 constituencies, while the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) were leading in 74 and 39 seats respectively.

Among the chief ministerial candidates of the three parties, BJP's Yeddyurappa is leading in Shikaripura by 35,397 votes, while JD (S)'s H.D. Kumaraswamy is leading by a margin of 22,289 in Ramanagara and 18,438 in Channapatna.

Meanwhile, incumbent Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is leading in Badami by 1,696 votes, while he is trailing in Chamundeshwari by 34,511 votes.Celebrations have already begun among BJP workers in Bengaluru and Delhi.

The elections in two constituencies, Jayanagar and Rajarajeshwari Nagar, both in Bengaluru had been postponed earlier.

A total of 2,654 candidates, including 216 women candidates were in the fray for the Assembly Elections this year.

The elections are being viewed by many as the BJP's as its gateway into the Southern stronghold.

Since the 2014 general elections, the Congress party has been defeated by the BJP in over a dozen states. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI