Karnataka: 25 percent voting recorded till noon

Noting that he was overwhelmed by the voters' response in Bangalore, especially by first-timers and youth, Nilekani said people of Bangalore South want change as the outgoing lawmaker (N.H. Ananth Kumar of the BJP) has been a non-performer though he had won from the seat for five times since 1996.

Balakrihnan said people of India were looking for a change as they were fed up with the present leaders.

"We ran an honest and high impact campaign over the last three weeks. The choice before voters in my constituency is very clear - an absentee incumbent (BJP's PC. Mohan), a candidate (Rizwan Arshad) of Congress and an honest candidate like me with no criminal record. This election is going to be a defining year for honest politics," said Balakrishan.