Karnataka assembly election on May 10, results on May 13

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday (March 29) announced that the single-phase assembly election in Karnataka will be held on May 10. The counting of votes for all 224 constituencies will be done on May 13.

The election Model Code of Conduct in the state has been implemented from today (March 29) onwards. The tenure of the Karnataka legislative assembly ends on May 24, 2023.

The announcements were made by the Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar during a press conference at Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi.

#WATCH | The day of polling for Karnataka Assembly elections will be 10th May, in the single phase and the results will be declared on 13th May. pic.twitter.com/v5lzt3HaBe

— ANI (@ANI) March 29, 2023

Voting from home

In a first, voting from home will be available for the people of Karnataka, the Chief Election Commissioner said. This facility will be available for 80+ citizens and people with disabilities.

First-time voters have increased

First-time voters in Karnataka have increased from 2018-19 by 9.17 lakh. Karnataka has 5,21,73,579 registered electors in 224 assembly constituencies in the state. 58,282 polling stations will be set up across the state, said the CEC.

VIDEO | Election Commission's press conference on #KarnatakaAssemblyElections: Highlights on first-time voters (n/7) pic.twitter.com/3OKcYVXMyp

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 29, 2023

Curbing the use of money power

The CEC also said that they are strengthing the team in Karnataka to curb the use of money power in elections. 2,400 Static Surveillance teams will keep strict vigil and they will be monitoring 171 interstate check posts in 19 districts, Rajiv Kumar said.

Politics in the state

The main fight in the state will be between the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress and Janata Dal-Secular. The BJP, led by CM Basavaraj Bommai, will be seeking to retain power in the state. The last assembly election in Karnataka in 2018 resulted in a hung assembly. The BJP emerged as the single-largest party but the Congress and JD-S formed a coalition government with HD Kumaraswamy as the CM.

However, in July 2019, the coalition collapsed after several MLAs resigned. The BJP finally formed the government with BS Yediyurappa as the Chief Minister. In 2021, he was replaced by Bommai.

Congress, AAP announce candidates

The Congress party announced its first list of 124 candidates on March 25. Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah will contest from Varuna and Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar will contest from the Kanakapura constituency.

On March 20, the Aam Aadmi Party released its first list comprising 80 candidates. The party has said it will field candidates in all the 224 constituencies in the state.

The BJP is yet to announce the name of candidates for the election.