Bengaluru,  Karnataka's opposition Congress is set to retain the Maski (reserved) Assembly seat as its candidate Basanagouda Turuvihal was leading by a margin of 30,606 votes over ruling BJP's nominee Pratapgouda Patil, as per poll officials.

"Turuvihal polled 86,337 votes, with 59.27 per cent vote share so far, while Patil secured 55,731 votes, with 38.26 per cent vote share," a poll official told IANS on phone.

Of 2,06,429-strong electorate in Maski in Raichur district, 1,45,458 voted, resulting in 70.40 per cent polling.

The vacancy in Maski was caused due to the disqualification of Patil, who defected from the Congress to the BJP in November 2019.

Interestingly, Turuvihal lost to Patil in the May 2018 assembly elections as a BJP candidate, and had recently joined the Congress, which fielded him in the bypolls.