BJP set to win in Karnataka polls

NEW DELHI, May 15 (CNN): India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) looked set to win an important election in the southern state of Karnataka, early results show, providing a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity ahead of the general election next year.

Modi's BJP has won 72 seats and are leading in 32 seats in the elections to the 224-seat state assembly, according to the Indian election commission. The BJP will need at least 112 seats to form a state government.

The race was expected to be tight, with pollsters predicting that no party would gain a majority of seats in the legislative assembly, resulting in some form of coalition partnership.

Karnataka, home to the technology hub of Bengalaru, is an important pick-up for the BJP and Modi, who rose to power on a campaign to cut regulations and make India more business-friendly.

The projected win for the BJP will be seen as a disaster for the opposition Congress party, which was in power in the state before Tuesday's elections and has long considered southern India a stronghold.

Should the BJP be able to form a government in Karnataka, Congress would govern only two of India's 29 states and one union territory. The BJP currently controls 21 states, either by itself or as part of an alliance.

Both Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi invested significant political capital in Tuesday's race, and the two leaders tried to score points attacking the other.

Modi accused Gandhi of nepotism, and having no other qualifications other than the fact that he was born to a family of previous Indian rulers. Gandhi in return attacked the Prime Minister on the slow economy and the increasing Hindu-Muslim divide in the country.

Congress leaders visited local temples in the state, to shed off the perception that the party was anti-Hindu, while the BJP paraded a string of heavy hitting national leaders across the state in a bid to drum up support.