Voters stand in queue at a polling booth in Karnataka
All 28 constituencies in Karnataka voted today, in a battle that is a must-win for both the Congress and the BJP. Voter turnout till 5 pm was about 55 per cent.
The BJP had won 19 Lok Sabha seats in 2009, but lost the only state it ruled in the south to the Congress in assembly elections less than a year ago. To prep for this year's general election it controversially brought back into the party former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, who faces allegations of corruption.
That has put the party on the backfoot in Karnataka as it attacks the Congress on the issue of corruption and scams across the country. But the BJP hopes that the support that leaders like Yeddyurappa can draw will negate that disadvantage.
The BJP, seen as the front runner in these general elections, also needs every seat it can bag to breast the tape at the 272 majority mark in the Lok Sabha. In its campaign in Karnataka, the party has unambiguously pitched its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
The Congress had won only six Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka last time, but hopes to build on last year's win in the assembly elections by wining many more seats in Parliament.
The most-watched battle is being fought in Bangalore South between billionaire and political debutant Nandan Nilekani of the Congress and seasoned BJP warrior Ananth Kumar, who has won the seat the last five times straight.
Nandan Nilekani, Infosys co-founder and former head of the Aadhar unique identity scheme says he fancies his chances at beating Mr Kumar, who is counting both on loyal voters backing him again and the perceived appeal of Mr Modi.
In 2009, the BJP won all three Lok Sabha seats in Bangalore city.
In Bangalore Central another former Infosys man, V Balakrishnan, is contesting as an Aam Aadmi Party candidate. And in Bangalore North, former BJP chief minister, Sadananda Gowda, takes on Congress candidate, C Narayanaswamy, who was picked in a Rahul Gandhi-led experiment with conducting primaries to choose candidates.
In Shimoga, Mr Yeddyurappa hopes to undo the humiliation of making no impact when he launched a party to contest last year's state election.