Mangaluru: BJP candidate for Dakshina Kannada Nalin Kumar Kateel wins for a third time after registering a lead of 2,73,367 lakh votes against Congress candidate Mithun Rai.

As of 3 pm Nalin has secured 772754 votes while Mithun Rai garnered close to 499387 votes. SDPI’s Mohammed Eliyas with nearly 46834votes is in the third position.

All efforts by congress have failed to avert the eight continuous victory by BJP in Dakshina Kannada constituency since 1991. Incumbent MP Nalin Kumar has emerged MP for the third time, earlier winning in the year 2009 and 2014.