Bengaluru, May 13 (IANS): The Congress party has secured lead in four out of five constituencies of Chikkamagaluru district which is considered as a bastion of BJP.

The Hindutva activists call this region as Ayodhya of Karnataka in the backdrop of the Datta Peetha movement.

The BJP had won all the five seats in the communally divided district in the previous election. The district comprises Sringeri, Mudigere, Chikkamagalur, Tarikere and Kadur constituencies.

The people of Mudugere constituency had chased down BJP MLA M.P. Kumaraswamy and tore his clothes following the elephant menace. He was denied ticket by BJP and he contested from AJD (S).

D.N. Devaraja of BJP had managed to get 12,747 votes and T.D. Raje Gowda of Congress polled 15,425 votes in the Sringeri seat. In Mudigere, BJP candidate Deepak Dodddaiah polled 15,293 votes and Congress candidate Nayana Motamma secured 14,000 votes as per the official statistics. Ground reports confirmed lead by Nayana Motamma.

G.H. Srinivasa of Congress has polled 20,563 votes, whereas BJP candidate D.S. Suresh garnered 17,917 votes in Tarikere seat. In Kadur seat, Congress candidate polled 23,352 votes while BJP candidate Belli Prakash secured 21,976 votes.

BJP National General Secretary and sitting MLA C.T. Ravi was trailing behind the Congress candidate. Ravi polled 20,473 votes while his rival Congress candidate H.D. Thammaiah got 22,435 votes.