Karnataka Assembly Elections voting Continues

Bangalore: The major political parties in Karnataka-the ruling BJP, the Congress, Janata Dal (Secular), and Aam Aadmi Party have released their manifestos ahead of the Assembly elections next week. In the run-up to the elections, a large part of the political action in Karnataka was consumed by the layered narratives to woo the Vokkaligas, the dominant land-owning community in the Old Mysore region where the Janata Dal (Secular) and its traditional rival Congress rule the roost.

A total of 3,632 candidates filed nominations for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections, as per data from the Election Commission till the last day for filing nominations. A total of 5,31,33,054 electors are eligible to cast their votes in 58,545 polling stations across the State, where 2,615 candidates are in the fray. Among the electors, 2,67,28,053 are male, 2,64,00,074 female and 4,927 “others”, while among the candidates 2,430 are male, 184 female and one from third gender.

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. 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 elbow room and momentum to position itself as the main opposition player in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

With the high-decibel public campaign coming to an end on May 8 evening, amidst rains in several parts, all political parties made their last-ditch effort to woo voters on May 8. May 9 was confined to door-to-door campaigns.