Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R Vala on Tuesday notified the May 12 elections to the 224-member Assembly, the State Election Commission said. "The Governor is pleased to call upon the people to elect members to the 15th legislative assembly in accordance with the Representation of the People's Act, 1951," the poll panel said in a statement here.
The notification paves the way for candidates to file nominations in the constituencies they are contesting from.
Key dates for Karnataka Elections 2018:
Last date to file nominations: April 24
Date of scrutiny: April 25
Last date for withdrawal: April 27
Date of polling: May 12
Counting of votes: May 15
Of the total seats, 36 are reserved for Scheduled Castes and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes.
Elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure peaceful voting amid tight security at 58,546 polling booths across 224 constituencies, using Electronic Voting Machines along with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails.
As many as 450 polling booths are 'pink booths', managed by all-women officials, including police, in all Assembly segments.
The southern state has 4.96 crore registered electors, including 2.52 crore men and 2.44 crore women. Over 15 lakh are first-time voters in the 18-19 age group.
About 3.5 lakh security personnel will be deployed during the polling in the state.
Nominations filed on day 1:
29 candidates file papers on the first day of filing nominations
Twenty-nine candidates today filed their papers on the first day of filing nominations for Karnataka assembly elections.
Among those who did so were one candidate each from BJP and JDS, state electoral authorities said.
While the ruling Congress has so far announced a list of 218 candidates in one go, the BJP has released names of 154 candidates in two lists.
JDS announced a list of 126 candidates in February itself, much before the poll dates were announced. Both Congress and BJP are beset with dissidence over ticket allocation with supporters of aspirants who failed to make it to the list going on the rampage and resorting to violence at several places.
The poll will see a three-cornered contest between Congress, BJP and JDS in most of the constituencies. The Congress, which hopes to retain power, has not announced any Chief Ministerial candidate but has maintained that incumbent Siddaramaiah will be the party’s “face” during the polls.
While BJP has announced former Chief Minister Yeddyurappa as its Chief Ministerial candidate, state JDS chief HD Kumaraswamy will be the man for the top post if the party comes to power.
(With inputs from agencies)
