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Karnataka Assembly Polls 2023 news highlights: Campaigning for Karnataka Assembly Polls ended yesterday evening on May 8; voting will take place tomorrow on May 10. The electioneering saw political bigwigs from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and heavyweights from the Indian National Congress (Congress) hoping to turn the tide in their favour. While the Congress is banking on an anti-incumbency wave that has worked since 1985, the ruling BJP hopes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
Stay tuned for the latest news, developments and updates in the run-up to the elections!
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A day before Karnataka goes to the polls, all Congress candidates signed a "solemn pledge" to deliver on the "five guarantees" promised by the party to the people of the state if elected.
Voting will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. A total of 5,31,33,054 electors are eligible to vote in the state's 58,545 polling places, where 2,615 candidates are contesting.
There are 2,67,28,053 male electors, 2,64,00,074 female electors, and 4,927 "others" among the electors, whereas there are 2,430 male candidates, 184 female candidates, and one third-gender candidate among the candidates.
There are 11,71,558 young voters, 5,71,281 people with disabilities (PWDs), and 12,15,920 people over the age of 80. The polling procedure involves approximately 4 lakh polling officials.
During voting, a total of 75,603 Ballot Units (BU), 70,300 Control Units (CU), and 76,202 voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) are expected to be used.
In the wake of increasing complaints from private sector employees particularly in information technology (IT) and biotechnology (BT) companies, the Bengaluru district election officer said CEOs of these companies will be prosecuted if any firm refuses to declare a paid holiday on May 10.
Read here
Congress party petitioned the Election Commission for action against PM Narendra Modi for his appeals to Karnataka voters that were "in violation" of the model code, calling it "a litmus test" for the poll body's ability and readiness to execute laws.
The average value of assets of 189 re-contesting MLAs in Karnataka went up 67 percent since 2018, according to a report by the Association of Democratic Reforms, based on self-sworn election affidavits.
The data showed that the average assets of these MLAs increased to about Rs 49 crore in 2023 from Rs 29 crore in 2018. Of these MLAs, the assets of 168 (89 percent) increased in value while those of 21 MLAs declined. Read more here
The Karnataka State Contractors' Association has urged citizens to vote according to their conscience, pointing out that corruption in the state has reached scary proportions.
On the eve of voting in Karnataka, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar urged people, particularly first-time voters, to turn out in big numbers.
Karnataka has around 5.3 crore electors in 224 constituencies, including 11.71 lakh first-time voters.
Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju accused the Congress of "peddling a divisive policy" to damage the country in response to a social media statement attributed to party leader Sonia Gandhi over Karnataka's sovereignty.
"Congress party is peddling a divisive policy to weaken India. They hate (Narendra) Modi ji because a humble man has been chosen as Prime Minister of India who also has emerged as the most popular global leader. But why should they hate India? After all, INC was in power for 6 decades," Rijiju tweeted sharing a screenshot of the Congress' tweet.
After an intense and occasionally contentious campaign that saw the "entry" of Lord Hanuman in the final leg of the electoral battle fought as much on issues of governance as on ideology, the stakes are high for the BJP and higher still for the Congress as people vote to elect a new government in Karnataka on Wednesday.
The incumbent rode the "double engine" narrative to seek another term in order to advance Karnataka's development. If the Congress gave the impression that it was taking the fight to the opposition by raising the stakes regarding alleged corruption under the BJP government, which was led first by B S Yediyurappa and then by Basavaraj Bommai, the party raised the volume with its loud "40 per cent sarkara" plank.
The Supreme Court today expressed significant disapproval of any political statements made in connection with a lawsuit involving the removal of the 4% Muslim reservation in Karnataka. The top court stated that greater sanctity must be upheld when there is a judicial ruling while deferring till July the appeals of the Karnataka government's decision to abolish the long-standing 4% OBC reservation for Muslims in the state.
"I think people will change the current govt and will bring the Congress govt. People are very enthusiastic to vote for Congress party," says Former Karnataka CM and Congress leader Siddaramaiah.
