After months of high-profiled election campaign, voting for 224 assembly constituencies of Karnataka has started from 7 am and will continue till 6 pm today with 2,615 candidates contesting in the polls. The counting of the votes is scheduled to be held on May 13.
Karnataka, the only state in the south where Bharatiya Janata Party has a significant presence with its incumbent government headed by Basavaraj Bommai as the CM is head-on-head with the Congress and the regional political party Janata Dal (Secular) founded by former PM HD Deve Gowda. With BJP relying heavily on the issue of national security and national image of PM Modi, the Congress on the other hand has been trying to attract voters with its promises of reservation and freebies. Most of the Exit and Opinion Polls conducted ahead of the assembly elections has indicated a win for the congress with full majority while some indicating a hung assembly with Congress being the largest party after the results are declared.
According to the Election Commission of India more than 42 lakh newly registered along with 5.3 crore voters are going to cast their vote in 58,545 polling stations across 37,777 locations.