Karnataka elections 2023: Voter turnout 8.21% until 9 am
The voting for the Karnataka Assembly elections commenced in a single phase at 7:00am on Wednesday, with a voter turnout of 8.21% as of 9:00am. Over 5.31 crore eligible voters are set to elect 224 representatives from among 2,615 candidates across the state. Udupi recorded the highest voter turnout in the state at 13.28% in the first two hours.
Why does this story matter?
Riding on an anti-incumbency wave, the Congress is looking at unseating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which claims it will break the 38-year-old trend of the ruling party losing polls in Karnataka. Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (Secular) is hoping to retain its stronghold in 37 seats with some newly-welcomed turncoats from the BJP and Congress. It can act as a kingmaker.
Congress will win 141 seats: DK Shivakumar
Former state chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who switched over from the BJP to the Congress before the polls, cast his vote in the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency, where he is contesting. Meanwhile, Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar said, "I am 200% confident Congress party will have 141 seats. We will win an absolute majority." Most opinion polls show the Congress edging ahead of the BJP.
Congress corners BJP over price rise
11.71 lakh new voters in this election
Around 4 lakh polling personnel are engaged in the voting, which will continue until 6:00 pm. Over 2.67 crore voters are male, 2.64 crore female, and 4,927 others. There are more than 11.71 lakh new voters while nearly 12.15 lakh voters are aged above 80 and over 5.71 lakh voters are persons with disabilities (PwD).
EVM glitch reported in Kalaburagi's Mandya
Opinion polls predict Congress to move ahead of BJP
The opinion polls from India TV-CNX and ABP-CVoter show Congress bagging 105 and 110-122 seats, respectively, while 113 seats are the required number to form a simple majority government. The grand old party is seeking to corner the BJP over allegations of corruption while the BJP is largely banking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image to retain power in the state.
"Congress's Shahi Parivar" demanding Karnataka's secession from India: PM Modi
The state saw a lot of action in the last few days. Following Sonia Gandhi's remark about Karnataka's sovereignty amid a border dispute between Karnataka and Maharashtra, PM Modi accused the Congress of demanding the state's secession from India. It was alleged that the BJP government named the rescue operation of stranded Indians from war-torn Sudan after Karnataka's Kaveri river because of the election.
BJP workers caught distributing money in Gulbarga
Separately, on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Yeshwanth Gurukar chased and caught BJP workers distributing money among voters in the Gulbarga South constituency. The Karnataka State Contractors Association issued a plea urging people to consider that the "40% commission...claimed the lives of several contractors." It had written to PM Modi in 2021 flagging widespread corruption in public projects.
