The stage is all set for the mega battle of ballots in Karnataka, with the state all set to elect its representatives to the 224-member Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. In the high-stakes election, the major political parties in contention are the BJP, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular). While the ruling BJP, riding on the Modi juggernaut, wants to break the 38-year jinx and retain its southern citadel, the Congress is seeking to wrest power to give the party much-needed room and momentum to position itself as the main opposition player in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Karnataka elections 2023 voting tomorrow: 10 things you need to know
-Voting in the state for 224 Assembly constituencies will start at 7 AM and end at 6 PM.
-A total of 2,613 candidates are in fray in the high-octane battle, including 2,427 males and 184 females and two in Others category.
-The BJP has fielded 224 candidates across all seats, Congress in 223 seats and Janata Dal (Secular) in 207 seats.
-A total of 5,31,33,054 electors are eligible to cast their votes in 58,545 polling stations across the state.
-As many as 11,71,558 are young voters, while 5,71,281 are persons with disabilities (PWDs) and 12,15,920 are aged above 80.
-A total of 75,603 Ballot Units (BU), 70,300 Control Units (CU) and 76,202 voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) are slated to be used during voting.
-Elaborate security arrangements have been made across the state for the smooth conduct of elections and forces have been deployed from neighbouring states.
-‘Critical Polling Stations’ are covered by one or more of the measures like Micro Observers, Webcasting and CCTVs to keep a watch on the polling process as force multipliers.
-Results will be declared on Saturday (May 13).
-A hung verdict in the 2018 polls, when the JD(S) won 38 seats as against the Congress’s 78 and the BJP’s 104, led to the JD(S) playing the role of kingmaker. Thereafter JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy was sworn in as the 25th CM of the state, while Congress leader G Parameshwara took oath as the deputy chief minister.