VIPs, including political leaders, celebrities and candidates were among the early voters who exercised their franchise in 14 Lok Sabha seats across central and southern Karnataka on Thursday.

"Among the early voters were 86-year-old Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, his wife Chennamma, his two sons -- Chief Minister H.D.Kumaraswamy and PWD Minister H.D. Revanna, their wives Anitha and Bhavani, and his grandsons Prajwal and Nikhil," a poll official told IANS.