BJP leads in 17, Cong in 7, JDS 1 in Karnataka

Moving way ahead of the ruling Congress, BJP in Karnataka was leading in 17 of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies and its principal opponent in seven, counting trends showed.

JDS was leading in Hassan where the party supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda was ahead of his Congress rival A Manju by over 7,000 votes.

BJP strongman B S Yeddyurappa had established a margin of over 35,600 votes against Congress' Manjunath Bhandary in his stronghold of Shimoga.

Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge was ahead of his rival by more than 10,200 votes in Gulbarga, while his ministerial colleage M Veerappa Moily was trailing behind BJP candidate B N Bache Gowda by over 2,700 votes in Chikkaballapur.

State BJP President Prahlad Joshi has left behind his Congress rival Vinay Kulkarni by more than 17,900 votes in Dharwad.

Former Chief Minister N Dharam Singh (Bidar) and former KPCC chief B Janardhan Poojary (Dakshina Kannada) were also trailing, as the counting of votes progressed.

BJP's lead was more or less well spread across different regions of the state, with the party emphasising its strength particularly in north Karnataka.