As public campaigning ends for the Karnataka Assembly elections, the state is set to begin polling on May 10. With the win being crucial for all the three leading parties - BJP, Congress, and JD(S) - all of them made multiple promises in their manifestos and have rolled out elaborate campaigns in the past months.
The aim of all the parties is to win with a clear majority, given that the state has had a hung assembly in the last polls, which had led to high tension and various leaders switching parties.
BJP aims to win 150 seats, as it wants to have a stronghold in the state given that Karnataka is the only state in the south where it is in power. Congress too targets a similar number and make its case strong for the Lok Sabha elections. JD(S), too aims to get a majority as it wants to play on the front foot and not remain a kingmaker.
Key details
Karnataka will cast votes on May 10 and the results will be announced May 13. The state has 224 assembly constituencies, of which 36 are reserved for SCs and 15 for STs.
The state has a total of 5,31,33,054 electors - 2,64,00,074 women and 2,67,28,053 men. There are 9.17 lakh first-time voters in the state.
Overall, there are 58,282 polling stations, of which 28,866 are located in urban areas. There are 883 voters on an average per polling station. Across the parties, out of the total 2,615 candidates, 2,430 are male, 184 female, and 1 third gender - are contesting for the seats. The national parties BJP, Congress, AAP, Bahujan Samaj Party, regional parties JD(S) and other recognized parties will be fighting to win elections, this time.
Some of the important constituencies in the state are the hometown of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Shiggaon, the stronghold of Congress leader Siddaramaiah, Varuna, and the constituency of KPCC President DK Shivakumar, Kanakapura. Additionally, Channapatna , the seat contested by HD Kumaraswamy, Shikaripura, and Ramanagara too are important constituencies.