Don't need JDS: Sadanand Gowda

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], May 15 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and ex Chief-Minister of Karnataka, Sadananda Gowda, on Tuesday scoffed away the possibilities of allying with the Janata Dal {Secular} (JDS) and expressed confidence of his party forming an independent government in the state.

"There is no question of alliance (with JDS) as we are already crossing 112 seats," claimed Gowda.

The latest trends in the counting of the votes show the BJP is leading in the race to the Karnataka State Assembly, having claimed 101 seats, while the Congress trails with just 46 seats won, 38 seats going to the JDS and three seats being claimed by other parties.

Counting of votes began at 8 a.m. for 222 out of 224 assembly constituencies in 58,546 polling stations in the state. 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 BJP fielded 223 candidates, while the Congress and the JDS fielded 222 and 201 candidates respectively.

Out of the 224 seats, 36 of them are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs), while 15 of them are for Scheduled Tribes (STs).

It may be noted that a party or an alliance needs 112 seats to form the government. (ANI)

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