Looking for Yeddyurappa?

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H R Venkatesh sent updates from his phone, till 5 pm in the evening on Counting Day, Karnataka. Here are excerpts.

4:30 pm: I'm out on Brigade Road to catch a few peoples' reactions, now that the BJP looks like it will rule for 5 years. Roughly half the people I go to shake their heads and say they are not Bangaloreans. A college student says the new government should do something about the city's night life. A mother of three says she will be happy if the new government fulfills even 10 per cent of their poll promises. Most people say something should be done about the traffic. None of them talk of farmers' problems or price rise, but then again, Brigade Road is hardly the place to find such reactions.

3 pm: Still no sign of the CM-to-be at his house. There's a large crowd of BJP party workers in one of the front rooms, all glued to the TV. The room is stuffy and the chairs are all full - in some cases two people a chair. There is little room to stand even. I spot a comfortable-looking stuffed chair that's strangely empty. I make a beeline towards it. The moment I sit in it, I'm pulled up by dozens of hands. It seems I took the chair that is permanently reserved for Yeddyurappa! I reassure everyone, I'm not after the CM's chair, raising a general laugh.

2:45 pm: Fellow reporter Deepa Balakrishnan at the JD(S) office says they are all in hiding. Not surprising for the party looks like it will end up with less than 30 seats. Will the party of Gowda and sons splinter, with two-thirds of the MLAs walking away? Don't be surprised if that happens.

2:30 pm: Fellow reporter Veeraraghav at the Congress HQ offers this analysis. "Congress leaders came in the morning with jogging shoes, hoping to run towards Deve Gowda to form a government, but with results coming, they chose to put their shoes to use by making themselves scarce."

11 am-2 pm: Where in the world is B S Yeddiyurappa? It is clear that the BJP will form a government on their own - but nobody seems to know where their Chief Ministerial candidate is. Rumours swirl about - that he is in his constituency Shikaripura, that he has been performing a puja since 5 am, and so on. Party workers begin to gather at his residence, there is the ritual bursting of crackers and sloganeering. First prize for best slogan is a tie between, "Original mannina maga, B S Yeddyurappa" (original son of the soil, B S Y) and "Karnatakada Sardar Patel, Yeddyurappanavarige Jai." Sweets are distributed, BSY's son struts about with a satisfied look about him. He refuses to reveal where his father is.

9:30 am: Media Centre, Infantry Road. The first trends have started coming in, giving a slender lead to the BJP. Salim Ahmed, Chief Whip of the Congress Legislative Council says his party will move up the lead, but it is soon apparent that it will be BJP's day. Captain Ganesh Karnik of the BJP is certain they will win. Plasma screens giving the latest results, compete with local TV channel sets at the centre, as political leaders stream in.

7:30 am: The mood at the Mount Carmel College counting centre is muted. A large group of policemen are milling about, occasionally pouncing on some passer-by unfortunate enough to stray closer to the police picket. People begin to trickle in - those who will be actually counting votes, party members, journalists and election commission officials. At about 7:45, a strong room containing EVMs is opened in front of EC observers. Counting begins at 8 am after EVMs are unsealed.