Voting for the 224-member state assembly has concluded in a closely fought elections and all eyes are now on May 13, the day when the votes will be counted. However, exit poll has predicted a comprehensive win for Rahul Gandhi's party. The exit poll results say that the Congress will get the majority with 103-118 seats. The BJP will slip to the second spot with 79-94 seats. The Janata Dal (Secular) will be in the third spot with 25-33 seats. Others will get 2-5 seats. As far as the voting percentage is concerned, the exit poll says that the Congress will get 41 per cent votes, the BJP will get 36 per cent, JD (S) 17, while others will get 6 per cent votes. The counting of votes is scheduled for May13, Friday. In the 224-member assembly elections, 2,615 candidates (2,429 males, 185 females, one other) are contesting. Till 1 PM, 37.25 per cent voter turnout was recorded.
In the Karnataka Assembly, a minimum of 113 seats is required to form a government. Of the total seats, 36 are reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes (ST). In the previous Karnataka Assembly elections held in 2018, with 222 constituencies, the voter turnout was 72.13 percent. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the most seats (104) followed by the Indian National Congress (INC).However, no party got a clear majority, and the BJP’s attempt to form a government was short-lived, with the government being dissolved three days ahead of a trust vote. The Congress-JD(S) alliance then formed the government, but it fell apart in 14 months due to the defection of 17 legislators, and the BJP returned to power. In the bypolls held subsequently in 2019, the ruling party won 12 out of 15 seats .According to the election commission, 2,615 candidates are contesting in the state Assembly elections held across 58,545 polling stations. The state has a total of 5,31,33,054 eligible voters, of which 2,67,28,053 are male, 2,64,00,074 are female, and 4,927 belong to the “others” category. Out of the candidates, 2,430 are male, 184 are female, and one is from the third gender.