EC likely to announce Karnataka poll schedule in 2nd week of April: Report

Sources told PTI that the Election Commission will visit the state sometime in the end of March or early April to decide the date on which the election schedule for the state will be announced

The Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule for Karnataka Assembly elections in the second week of April, after the school board examinations are over, highly placed sources in New Delhi said on Monday.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah during a public meeting in Jamakhandi, Karnataka. (Arijit Sen/HT FILE Photo)

They said the Election Commission will visit the state sometime in the end of March or early April to decide the date on which the election schedule for the state will be announced.

The term of the 224-member Karnataka assembly ends on May 28 this year.

The BJP is seeking to wrest control of the southern state from the Congress and has already declared former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate.

The ruling Congress is going to polls under the leadership of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, in its bid to retain its hold over the state. Karnataka is the only big state, besides Punjab, which is now ruled by the Congress.

The JD-S, which is the third force in the state, has announced its pre-poll tie-up with the Bahujan Samaj Party.