Bangalore:Mar 11, 2013

The Congress has taken early lead in the Karnataka local polls, which have been billed as semi-finals before the state elects a new Assembly in a couple of months.

Initial trends show that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is finding the going tough and has not been fully able to counter the BS Yeddyurappa effect.

There are a total number of 4976 seats for which counting is taking place. The Congress is doing very well in Bellary and Dakshin Kannada.

The Bellary brothers, who had launched the BSR Congress, are also trailing in their stronghold with the Congress leading in all the seats.

The party is also leading in areas dominated by the JDS. In what could be a massive blow to the BJP, the party is trailing at the fourth place.

The results are crucial since they could be an indicator of what will happen in the state elections coming up in two months. Over 200 municipalities including seven city corporations went to the polls on March 7.

The BJP needs to win 30-40 per cent of the seats in order to retain power. But the party has been riven by mass defections to the Congress and Yeddyurappa'a Karantaka Janata Party (KJP).

Even the Janata Dal (Secular) is hoping for gains to increases their bargaining power in the upcoming Assembly polls.

source:http://ibnlive.in.com