According to early trends over an hour after counting of votes began at 8.00 a.m. in all the Assembly seats, the BJP is leading in 8 and the opposition Congress and Janata Dal-Secular in one each.

"Our candidates are leading in Athani, Kagwad, Gokak, Yellapur, Hirekuru, Vijayanagar, Chikkaballapur and Ranibennur," BJP state unit spokesman G. Madhusudan told IANS here.

The ruling party requires a minimum of 7 seats in the 223-member Assembly for a simple majority with 112 as the halfway mark, as it already has 104 members, excluding the Speaker and the support of an Independent.

The opposition Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) is leading in Yeshvanthapura in Bengaluru northern suburb, according to the Election Commission web site.

The Congress is leading in Shivajinagara in Bengaluru central after three of the 20 rounds of vote count.

The BJP and the opposition Congress contested in all the 15 Assembly seats, while the JD-S in 12 seats.