58,282 polling stations have been set up across the state.
Bengaluru:
Campaigning for the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka will end today as all the three major parties in the state – BJP, Congress and JD(S) – make last-ditch efforts to woo voters.
Of the state’s 5.2 crore eligible voters, 9.17 lakh will vote for the first time in 58,282 polling stations set up across the state. Of the 2,613 candidates in the election, 185 are women, and one is from the ‘others’ category.
BJP has fielded 224 candidates, Congress 223 and JD(S) 207.
According to election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Congress has 31 per cent, BJP 30 per cent and JDS 25 per cent candidates who have ‘serious criminal cases’ against them.
Several political leaders who have filed nominations for elections have disclosed assets worth thousands of crores.
BJP’s MTB Nagaraj, Karnataka’s small scale industries minister, is the richest among all the candidates with assets of Rs 1,614 crore. State Congress chief DK Shivakumar is the second richest with Rs 1,358 crore, while BJP leader and Congress candidate from Govindrajnagar constituency Priya Krishna, 39, rounds out the top three with assets of Rs 1,156 crore.
The BJP’s campaign in Karnataka was largely led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the party hoping to break the 38-year-old anti-incumbency trend in the state. The JD(S), on the other hand, ran a highly localized campaign led by HD Kumaraswamy, the former chief minister of Karnataka.
The Congress, buoyed by Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar’s defection from the BJP, launched a vigorous campaign by party leaders Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar and Mallikarjun Kharge soon after the ruling party announced its list of candidates for the elections.
Voting for the 224-seat Karnataka Assembly will begin on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.