Karnataka Assembly Election 2023: Polling on May 10, results on May 13

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the schedule of the general election to the Legislative Assembly of Karnataka. The election in the state will be held on May 10 this year, while the results will be out on May 13th.

Karnataka, which has 224 seats in the Assembly currently, has 119 MLAs of the ruling BJP, while Congress has 75 and its ally JD(S) has 28 seats. The total electors in Karnataka are 5.2 crore, Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday.

The total number of 80+ year-old electors stand at 12.15 lakh. "For the first time, people above 80 years and persons with disabilities (PwD) can vote from their homes," he said.

"First-time voters have increased from 2018-19 by 9.17 lakhs in Karnataka. All young voters who are turning 18 years of age by April 1, will be able to vote in Karnataka Assembly elections," Kumar stated.

The term of the 224-member Karnataka Assembly ends on May 24.

For the upcoming polls, Congress announced the names of 124 candidates on March 25. Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will contest from Varuna and Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar will contest from Kanakapura constituency.

The Aam Aadmi Party on March 20 released the first list comprising 80 candidates who will contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Karnataka. The party has said it will field candidates in all the 224 Assembly segments in the state, where Assembly elections are due by May.

Janata Dal-Secular, another major force in the southern state, has also announced the names of candidates for 93 constituencies.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said that BJP's first list of candidates is likely to be announced in the first week of April.

He charged the State Congress chief D K Shivakumar for luring BJP MLAs offering them tickets in constituencies where the grand old party is yet to announce its candidates for Assembly polls, due by May.