Congress trails in Karnataka polls
India's ruling Congress party trailed its main rival after the first round of balloting in a crucial state election seen as the precursor to a national vote, according to an exit poll Sunday.
The Congress would emerge with just 23 assembly seats out of 89 that were decided in Saturday's balloting in the southern state of Karnataka, showed the poll, conducted by broadcaster NDTV.
Karnataka is home to 60 million people and its capital Bangalore is the hub of India's thriving software industry. With 28 seats in the state assembly, Bangalore was among the southern Karnataka districts that voted Saturday.
The exit poll that covered 7,000 voters showed 31 seats going to the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is making its first solo bid for power in southern India.
The poll gave 30 constituencies to Janata Dal (Secular), the BJP's partner in a coalition that collapsed in November.
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