Bengaluru: The counting of votes for the 224 seats of the Karnataka Assembly began at 8 am today. The counting of votes started at 36 Centers with foolproof security in place. The voting was held on the 10th of this month. While most of the exit polls had shown that the Congress is returning to power, the Bharatiya Janata Party also has good chances to retain power. The JDS is likely to play the role of kingmaker. Karnataka had witnessed a high pitched campaign for the May 10th voting. About 72.68 percent voters exercised their votes to elect the 224 MLAs.