The Election Commission will start the counting of votes cast in the Karnataka Assembly elections at 8 am today, the results of which, according to exit polls, are unlikely to deliver a clear majority for the states ruling Congress and challenger Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Security has been beefed up with 50,000 personnel deployed across state

Several exit polls have predicted a hung Assembly. Such an outcome would propel former prime minister HD Deve Gowdas Janata Dal (Secular) into the role of a kingmaker, political commentators say.

In one of the most high-profile and bitterly fought elections in recent times, 222 of the 224 seats in the Karnataka legislative assembly went to the polls on May 12.

Polling for the RR Nagar seat was deferred on account of alleged electoral malpractices, while it was countermanded in the Jayanagar seat following the death of the BJP candidate.

The trends are likely to begin to trickle within an hour and all Karnataka election results are expected to be declared by late evening.

If the results reveal a clear victory for the Congress, the grand old party would have bucked the trend of incumbents being voted out of power since 1985, when the erstwhile Janata Dal formed the government under Ramakrishna Hegde for a second consecutive term.

It is, however, unclear if Siddaramaiah, a backward class leader with a formidable reputation, will be the next chief minister in the event of a Congress victory.

Though the Congress had said he would be its face in the elections, it stopped short of declaring him the partys chief ministerial candidate.

Siddaramaiah caused a political flutter when he said on Monday that he was ready to make way for a Dalit chief minister if the Congress high command so decided, a statement many felt was aimed at keeping the JD(S) in good humour so as to stitch an alliance in case of a fractured mandate.