The JD(S)-Congress coalition seems to be doing badly with BJP making gains in early trends in counting of votes that commenced across the State at 8 a.m. Of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, the saffron party is leading in more than 20 seats.
Some of the senior coalition leaders, including former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna M. Kharge are trailing against their BJP opponents in Tumakuru Lok Sabha and Kalaburagi Lok Sabha constituencies respectively. Seven-time MP and former Minister K.H. Muniyappa and former Chief Minister and Union Minister M. Veerappa Moily are trailing BJP nominees in Kolar Lok Sabha and Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha constituencies respectively.
In the much fought Mandya Lok Sabha constituency that generated enough heat between the BJP-backed Independent candidate Sumalatha and JD(S) candidate Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, the actor-turned-politician Sumaltha is leading with a wafer-thin margin after trailing him initially.
Congress nominees are leading in Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Central, Chamarajanagar, Mysuru, Ballari while JD(S) is leading in Hassan. Initial trends also indicate senior BJP candidates leading in their respective constituencies. They include former Minister Shobha Karandlaje from Udupi-Chikamagalur, Union Minister Ananthkumar Hegde from Uttara Kannada, Union Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda from Bengaluru North and Ramaesh Jigajinagi from Vijayapura.
