Fifty-two million voters in Karnataka will vote on May 10 and the results will be announced three days later, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced on Wednesday, setting the stage for a fierce three-cornered contest in the first large battleground state to go to the polls this year.
Chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said 58,282 voting booths will be set up across the 224-member assembly.
The state saw a voter turnout of 72.13% during the 2018 elections.
Kumar, flanked by election commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel during the announcement, said the polls were being conducted in the middle of the week, on a Wednesday, to avoid absenteeism stemming from people clubbing voting day with a weekend break.
Karnataka is the fourth state this year to go to the polls but the first big one, with 28 Lok Sabha seats. Five more states are scheduled to go to the polls later this year, setting the stage for the general elections in 2024.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopes to win back the only southern state it is in power in, but a string of corruption allegations and incidents of infighting involving supporters of former chief minister YS Yediyurappa and current CM Basavaraj Bommai have hurt the party in recent months.
BJP general secretary and in-charge for Karnataka, Arun Singh said, “The BJP will win with a thumping victory. Neither the Congress nor the JD(S) are there on the ground”.
{{/usCountry}}BJP general secretary and in-charge for Karnataka, Arun Singh said, “The BJP will win with a thumping victory. Neither the Congress nor the JD(S) are there on the ground”.
{{/usCountry}}The Congress is hoping to win its first major state in five years on the back of an anti-corruption campaign and anti-incumbency, but must curb internal dissension between former chief minister Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar.
“We have every possibility of winning the elections, which is why the Prime Minister is sending his cabinet ministers to Karnataka and he himself and the home minister (Amit Shah) are visiting the state,” said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The Janata Dal (Secular) will hope to retain its pocket of influence in the southern part of the state and emerge kingmaker in a close election, like it did in 2018, when HD Kumaraswamy become chief minister with Congress support.
“Last time, Congress said JD(S) was the BJP’s B-team. But the Pancharatna Yatra has been instrumental in garnering the support of all people devoid of castes and communities, especially the farmers. We are making inroads in urban areas as well,” JD(S) MLC Thippeswamy said.
“We hope to secure more than 65-70 seats,” he added.
In the last assembly elections, the BJP won 104 seats, the Congress 78 and the JD(S) 37. The Congress and the JD(S) came together to form the government but the alliance collapsed in July 2019 after 17 lawmakers resigned, paving the way for the BJP to stake claim to power.
This will be the first assembly election for the BJP after it switched chief ministers and anointed Bommai, though Yediyurappa remains a key factor and campaign face. The latter’s influence is likely to shape the BJP’s fortunes in a large number of seats and among the Lingayat community, among the state’s most influential. But the party’s campaign rallies, the Vijay Sankalp Yatre, have been roiled by infighting and a face-off between supporters of Yediyurappa and general secretary CT Ravi.
The BJP courted controversy last month when state unit chief NK Kateel said the polls will be fought on issues of Tipu Sultan’s legacy and interfaith unions. The BJP also moved to woo influential communities, the Lingayats and Vokkaligas, by upping their quota last month but sparked a row by scrapping separate reservations for Muslims. A proposal to internally divide the scheduled caste quota has also triggered protests.
The Congress, which has already announced candidates for 124 seats last week, the election is an opportunity to win a resource-rich state ahead of the 2024 general polls, and establish a government on its own in a big state after 2018. It hopes to focus on allegations of corruption and 40% commission against some BJP leaders, anti-incumbency and its own record to win back power. But it will need to resolve old rivalries between state unit chief Shivakumar and former Siddaramaiah.
The JD(S) hopes to retain its traditional base among the Vokkaligas to hold on to its bastion in the old Mysuru region. Kumaraswamy has already said that he will not go with either the BJP or the Congress but the regional outfit may emerge kingmaker in a close election.
Other parties in the fray in Karnataka are Secular Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of now banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and G Janardhana Reddy’s Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha.
CEC Kumar said that the poll watchdog will focus on new voters, women, transgender people, persons with disabilities, and vulnerable tribal groups. “We are making it clear that there will be zero tolerance for use of money power,” he said.
“There will be 240 model polling stations which will be made eco-friendly and green booths. A hundred booths will be managed purely by people with disabilities,” Kumar added.
“Hindutva politics and the Tipu issue could have an impact on coastal and Mysuru regions. In rest of Karnataka, it may not have much impact as previous elections as there is no sizeable Muslim population there. The SDPI play in coastal regions will be interesting to watch,” said political expert A Naryana, referring to some BJP leaders targeting Tipu Sultan.