• Source:JND
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THE ELECTION Commission of India on Wednesday announced the election dates for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly election. The election for the 224-member Assembly will be held in a single-phase on May 10 and the results of the polls will be announced on May 13.

The term of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly will end on May 24, 2023. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has 119 MLAs while Congress has 75 and the Janata Dal (Secular) has 28 MLAs in the state legislative Assembly.

CEC Rajiv Kumar, while announcing the poll schedule, said that there will be a strict watch over godowns or warehouses for freebies. He further said that a social media cell will also monitor fake news or misinformation campaigns, or in case of any violations.

Karnataka has 2,62,42,561 male voters while the number of female electorates stood at 59,26,3019. The total number of third-gender electorate stood at 4,699. First time voters in Karnataka stood at 9,17,241.

Neck-and-Neck fight between BJP and Congress:

Karnataka is likely to witness a close fight between the incumbent BJP and the main opposition Congress. The Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) is expected to play the kingmaker role.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress have already set the target of winning 150 seats. The saffron party has given the state leadership to CM Basavaraj Bommai. However, the party has named former chief minister and Lingayat faces BS Yediyurappa as the main strategist. Yediyurappa promised to work hard for the state elections to ensure PM Modi stays in the post after the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

Meanwhile, Congress has cornered the state government over its recent decision of scrapping the 4 per cent quota for OBC Muslims and distributing it among Lingayats and Vokkaligas. The Congress has announced that it will roll back the decision and will restore the 4 per cent Muslim quota if voted to power.

The DK Shivakumar-led Karnataka Congress has also cornered the Bommai-led saffron brigade over the issues of corruption, misgovernance, misuse of investigation agencies and several other issues and termed the state government as a 40 per cent commission government. The grand old party is also likely to raise the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha as a main issue in Karnataka.

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Important Dates 

Issue of notification: April 13, 2023

Last date for making nominations: April 20, 2023

Scrutiny of nominations: April 21, 2023

Last date for withdrawal of candidatures: April 24, 2023

The term of Karnataka Legislative Assembly will end on May 24, 2023.