NEW DELHI: The Karnataka Assembly elections saw a 70% voter turnout on May 12, the Election Commission said in New Delhi. Counting of votes will take place on May 15.Karnataka is the only state the BJP has ever won in the southern part of the country.
In the last elections in 2013, which went in favour of the Congress, the turnout was 71.4 per cent. In 2008, the election that brought the BJP to power, the turnout was much lower – 65 per cent.
The tenure of the current Karnataka Legislative Assembly will expire on May 28. Out of the 224 constituencies, 173 are reserved for the general category, 36 for the scheduled caste and 15 for the scheduled tribe.
The outcome of the Assembly polls is likely to have a major bearing on the future course for both parties. The JD(S), fighting for political relevance, completes the three-cornered contest in Karnataka.
In what is projected as a tight race, voting was held in 222 out of 224 seats in a three-cornered contest among the ruling Congress, the BJP and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s JD(S).
Election in the R.R. Nagar constituency in Bengaluru has been postponed following the seizure of over 9,000 voter ID cards. Election in Jayanagar in the city has also been countermanded following the demise of BJP candidate and sitting MLA Vijay Kumar.
Police have reported five incidents of violence — two in Bengaluru district, one each in Vijayapura, Hassan and Bengaluru city.
Six exit polls have predicted the BJP to become the single largest party while five have given the lead to the Congress in the exit polls.
