CHANDIGARH: The Congress was quick to take the lead in early trends as counting of votes for the crucial Karnataka Assembly poll 2023 is underway.
The strong rooms were opened at 7 am on Saturday and the process of counting began at 8 am amid elaborate security arrangements.
Postal ballots were counted first. The counting will be taken up in 36 centres in district headquarters across the state.
The Assembly poll in the state is said to be the semi-finals for the Lok Sabha elections as it will set the tone for the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Indicating a hung Assembly, most of the exit polls have predicted that the Congress will emerge as the single largest party.
The magic number is 113 in the 224-member state legislature. Among 2,613 candidates, 2,427 are men and 185 are women. One candidate is in the other category.