RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 3 — Leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pulled ahead of far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro with around 70 per cent of the votes counted yesterday in Brazil’s presidential election, but a runoff looked likely.

Underperforming expectations based on pre-election opinion polls, Lula had 46 per cent of the vote to 45.3 per cent for Bolsonaro, with 73.3 per cent of polling stations reporting, according to official results.

Lula, long considered the heavy favourite, actually started the night trailing Bolsonaro, whose bastions in the north and south-east were quicker to report results than Lula’s stronghold in the north-east.

He pulled ahead with around 70 per cent of polling stations reporting — sparking ecstatic cheers at street parties where supporters decked out in the red of his Workers’ Party had gathered to watch the results.

But the result looked surprisingly strong for Bolsonaro — and disappointing for Lula.

Leading polling firm Datafolha had given the charismatic but tarnished ex-president (2003-2010) 50 per cent of the vote to 36 per cent for Bolsonaro in a poll published on the eve of the election.

That had appeared to put the veteran leftist within reach of a victory in the first round.

Instead, the Latin American giant now looks headed for a runoff on October 30, extending what has already been a bitterly divisive campaign.

Bolsonaro’s camp was quick to celebrate the early results.

“Bolsonaro leading out of the gate. I called it: Datafolha got it wrong, again,” Bolsonaro’s congressman son Eduardo wrote on Twitter.

The far-right also looked set for strong showings in a series of key state and federal races, with ex-Bolsonaro cabinet ministers winning Congressional seats and leading in the key governor’s race in Sao Paulo.

On Lula’s side, supporters were tense, but not giving up hope.

“Everyone’s nervous with the early results. But the states where the count is most advanced are the most pro-Bolsonaro. We’re going to turn it around,” prominent indigenous leader Sonia Guajajara, a congressional candidate, said at the Sao Paulo hotel where Lula’s camp was gathered.

Bolsonaro and his inner circle were meanwhile watching the results at the presidential residence in Brasilia. — AFP