Mangaluru, 23 May: BJP candidate for Dakshina Kannada Nalin Kumar Kateel seemed all set to win for a third time as he registered a lead of nearly two lac votes over Congress candidate Mithun Rai.
By 12.30 pm, Nalin Kumar Kateel secured 5,10,758 votes while Mithun Rai garnered close to 3,17,810 votes.
Mithun Rai was leading initially when postal votes were being counted, but Nalin Kumar soon overtook, racing ahead of his political rival and consistently holding the margin.