Karnataka: 25 percent voting recorded till noon

Among prominent candidates in fray are Infosys co-founder and technocrat Nandan Nilekani from the high-profile Bangalore South constituency, home to about 800 IT firms like Infosys, Wipro and multinationals from the US and Europe.

Nilekani's former colleague and former Infosys director V. Balakrishnan is also contesting from Bangalore Central seat as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate.

"It is a very important election, as it will decide the country's future, the idea of India and its philosophy," Nielkani told IANS after casting his vote.