New Delhi/Bengaluru, May 10 (IANS): After the high-voltage campaigning, the 224-member Karnataka Assembly finally went to the polls on Wednesday with political pundits predicting a close contest between the ruling BJP and the principal opposition Congress.

According to the ABP/C-Voter Exit Poll, in the Greater Bangalore region, the BJP is likely to win 17 out of the 32 seats, while the Congress is projected to win 13 seats with JD(S) coming a distant with just two seats.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, the BJP had won 11 seats in the region, while the Congress got 17 seats and the JD(S) four.

The Congress might lose on four seats which it had won in the 2018 Assembly polls, while the BJP is expected to win six additional seats, the exit poll predicted.

The grand old party is expected to get 39.3 per cent vote share, down 0.7 per cent as compared to its 2018 share of 40 per cent. The saffron party is predicted to witness an upswing of 5.7 per cent in vote share at 44.7 per cent as compared to its share of 39 per cent in 2018.

The JD(S), which got 18 per cent votes in 2018, is likely to get 13.1 per cent votes this time, marking a drop of 4.9 per cent.