- The results of the election will be announced on May 13
- Most exit polls predict hung house; JD(S) is likely to emerge as a kingmaker
NE NEWS SERVICE
BENGALURU, MAY 10
In what is said to the 2024 Lok Sabha trailer, the single-phase election to the 224-member Karnataka State Legislative Assembly on Wednesday saw a turnout of nearly 70 per cent of voters, in a process that was “largely peaceful”.
The results of the election will be announced on May 13.
In the last Assembly polls held in 2018, as much as 72.36 per cent of the electorate cast their ballot.
This time, a total of 5.31 crore electors were eligible to cast their vote in 58,545 polling stations across the state where 2,615 candidates are in the fray, with the contest being a three-cornered one between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular).
At the end of voting, the Election Commission said, “Largely peaceful voting in all 224 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka, and no repoll indicated in any of the 58,545 polling stations.”
Prominent among those who voted today include former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Others include former Chief Ministers B S Yediyurappa and D V Sadananda Gowda (both BJP) and Siddaramaiah and Jagadish Shettar (both Congress), KPCC president D K Shivakumar, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale, IT industry veteran N R Narayana Murthy and wife Sudha Murty, seers of various maths, and literary and film personalities.
First-time voters and the elderly stole the show as they were seen participating in the voting process enthusiastically in many segments.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to vote in large numbers and enrich the “festival of democracy”.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi too appealed to the people of Karnataka to vote in large numbers to build a progressive and “40-per-cent-commission-free” state.
Most exit polls predict hung house; JD(S) is likely to emerge as a kingmaker
The state is mainly witnessing a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular). The BJP is keen to retain the only state it has in southern India to further expand its footprint while Congress is keen to gain momentum for its challenge in the assembly polls later this year and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
The exit polls predictions indicate that the JD(S) is likely to emerge as a kingmaker, though the party maintains that it will get enough seats to form government on its own.
Voting came to an end at 6 pm with data showing a voter turnout of nearly 70 per cent. Ramanagara recorded the highest turnout of 78.22 per cent, while the lowest polling was from Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) South limits (parts of Bengaluru city) at 48.63 per cent, election officials said.
