Karnataka is set for a big fight on Wednesday (May 10) after seeing mega rallies and high-voltage campaigns by prominent BJP and Congress leaders.
There are 224 seats in the House and the winning side needs to secure at least 113 seats. Of the 224 Assembly seats, 36 are reserved for SCs and 15 for STs.
The Election Commission of India said a total of 2,615 candidates are contesting in the polls, including independents.
The big fight in Karnataka will take place among the BJP, Congress and the JD(S) parties. No political party has won a successive mandate in the state since 1985.
BJP national leaders, including PM Narendra Modi, have held a total of 206 public meetings and 90 roadshows, while its state leaders have held 231 public meetings and 48 roadshows in poll-bound Karnataka. Congress has held 99 public meetings and 33 road shows by its top state and central leaders.
As many as 58,282 polling stations will be set up in the state for the May 10 elections. The average voter per polling station is pegged at 883. A total of 1,320 polling stations will be managed by women officials.
Shiggaon: Karnataka's present CM Basavaraj Bommai is contesting from the Shiggaon constituency. Bommai has won the seat thrice consecutively in 2008, 2013, and 2018.
Varuna: The Varuna constituency has been a stronghold for former CM Siddaramaiah. The Congress leader has won the seat in 2008 and 2013 while his son Yathindra won the seat in 2018.
Kanakapura: It is the home turf of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar. Shivakumar has won the seat in 2008, 2013 and 2018.
Channapatna: The constituency will see JD(S) heavyweight and former CM HD Kumaraswamy taking on BJP candidate CP Yogeshwar and Congress' Gangadhar S.
Ramanagara: Former CM and PM HD Deve Gowda's grandson Nikhil Kumaraswamy will be contesting the poll from this seat, which has been a stronghold of Gowda.
There are a total of 5.21 crore voters in the state, which includes 2.59 women voters and 2.62 crore male voters. Of the total voters, 16,976 are above the age of 100. There are 9.17 lakh first-time voters in Karnataka.
The voting will take place from 7 am to 6 pm on Wednesday (May 10).
The counting of votes for the single phase polls will take place on May 13, Saturday.