Karnataka: After a high-voltage campaign, Karnataka is set for the mega battle of ballots. The voting for 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka started from 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. A total of 5,31,33,054 electors are eligible to cast their votes in 58,545 polling stations across the state. The major political parties in contention are the BJP, Congress, and JD(S) The majority mark to form the government is 113 seats.
Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai has cast his vote and said, “I’ve voted and done my duty towards democracy. It’s a privilege to vote in my constituency. I will win by a record margin. People of Karnataka will vote for positive development and BJP will get a comfortable majority.”
People in the southern Indian state of Karnataka were voting Wednesday in an election where pre-poll surveys showed the opposition Congress party favored over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Hindu nationalist party. The votes for 224 state legislature seats will be counted May 13 and the outcome is likely to be an indicator of voter sentiment ahead of national elections expected by May next year.
A. Narayana, a political analyst, said there is voters’ anger against the ruling BJP government in the state. “If this anger somehow translates into voting, the BJP has reasons to worry and the Congress has reasons to rejoice,” he said.
Sandeep Shastri, another expert, said the situation seems to be like that. “The Congress has its nose ahead.”
