Karnataka Election 2023: Voting begins; high stakes for BJP, Congress

The electoral fate of top guns--Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Congress veterans Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy among others will be sealed during the day-long exercise.

Voting begins in high stake Karnataka on Wednesday (May 10), in a state where the ruling BJP is eyeing to script history by retaining its southern citadel while a combative Congress eyes a comeback ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Polling is being held for 224 seats in what is being seen mainly as a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, the Congress and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda's Janata Dal (Secular).

The electoral fate of top guns--Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Congress veterans Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy among others will be sealed during the day-long exercise.

Counting of polled votes will be taken up on May 13. The voting that began at 7 am amid tight security will go on till 6 in the evening.

According to the Election Commission, a total of 5,31,33,054 electors are eligible to cast their vote in 58,545 polling stations across the state.

Among the electors, as many as 2,67,28,053 are male, 2,64,00,074 female and 4,927 "others", while among the candidates 2,430 are male, 184 female and one from third gender.

While the ruling BJP, riding on the Modi juggernaut, wants to break the 38-year jinx -- the State has never voted the incumbent party to power since 1985 -- and tighten the grip on its southern stronghold, the Congress is seeking to wrest power to give the party the much-needed elbow room and momentum to position itself as the main opposition player in the 2024 parliamentary polls.

Also what needs to be seen is, whether the JD(S) will emerge as a "kingmaker" or a "king" by holding the key for government formation, in the event of a hung verdict, as it has done in the past.

A total of 75,603 Ballot Units (BU), 70,300 Control Units (CU) and 76,202 voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) are slated to be used during the voting.

CM Bommai (Shiggaon), Leader of Opposition and former CM Siddaramaiah (Varuna), JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy (Channapatna), Shivakumar (Kanakapura) are the among the top candidates in the fray.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, BJP emerged as the single largest party by winning 104 seats, followed by Congress at 80, JD(S) 37. There was one independent member, while BSP and Karnataka Pragnyavantha Janata Party (KPJP) had one legislator each.

(With inputs from PTI)