Karnataka election results live: Congress set for big win, but who will be chief minister?

Bangalore: The Congress looks poised to form the next government in Karnataka but it could have another fight on its hands. There now appears to be a tough race within the party for who the next chief minister will be. (Read: Congress set to win, JD(S) pushes BJP to number 3)

Among the possible contenders for the top post are state Congress chief G Parameshwara, senior leader K Siddaramaiah and Union Ministers Veerappa Moily and Mallikarjun Kharge.

There were huge celebrations outside the residence of Mr Siddaramaiah who is an an influential backward caste leader from the Kuruba community. Karnataka, so far, has seen its political fate being decided by the powerful Vokkaliga and Lingayat communities.

But leaders insist that the party high command will take the final call. "Congress party believes in democracy. We will adopt a democratic path," said Mr Siddaramaiah. But the fact that a tussle for the chief ministers' post was likely was more than evident when Mr Parameshwara said, "Having many leaders in Karnataka is an advantage and also a disadvantage."

The Congress, at this time, is leading in over 100 seats in the 224-seat assembly, as per the latest projections. 71 per cent of the 4.36-crore strong electorate cast its vote on Sunday. Voting was held for 223 seats to the Karnataka Assembly - one constituency, Periyapatna, will vote later following the death of the BJP candidate before voting day.