At Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, held a press conference to declare the timetable for the Karnataka Legislative Assembly 2023, which is a significant event in Indian politics.
The Karnataka Assembly Election 2023 schedule has
been announced by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on March 29. The
polling day will be May 10 and the counting of votes will be held on May 13.
The announcement was made by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, along
with Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel at a press
conference held at Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
Currently,
Karnataka has 224 seats in the Assembly, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) holding 119 seats, while the Congress has 75 and its ally, the Janata Dal
(Secular) or JD(S), has 28 seats. The state has a total of 5.21 crore
electorates, of which males are 2.62 crores and females are 2.59 crores. The
number of 100 plus voters is 16,976.
CEC Kumar
informed that there are 224 Assembly constituencies, of which 36 are reserved
for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 15 for Scheduled Tribes (STs). More than 58,000
polling stations would be set up across the state. There is an increase of 32%
from 2018 in the number of 80 plus electors, which also includes 16,976 proud
electors who are 100 plus. Additionally, the number of persons with
disabilities (PWDs) has increased to 5.55 lakhs, which is an increase of close
to 150%.
CEC Kumar
also highlighted the measures taken by the ECI for attracting youth to vote.
There would be 240 model polling stations which will be made eco-friendly and
green booths. Furthermore, 100 booths would be managed purely by persons with
disability. The first-time voters have increased by 9.17 lakh in Karnataka
since 2018-19. "All young voters who are turning 18 years of age by April
1, will be able to vote in the Karnataka Assembly elections," he said.
Security
measures have been laid down for the identified sensitive booths in the state.
There are 58,282 polling stations in Karnataka, of which 20,866 are urban. The
average number of electors per polling station comes to 883. On all the
sensitive booths which have been identified, four to five measures would be
taken, which would include CAPF, web-casting, or a micro-observer. With the
combination of all of these, more vigour and vigil would be put on the
sensitive booths.
The political parties have begun the spate of allegations and counter-allegations, with the Congress attempting to corner the government over the issue of corruption. The BJP government, being led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, is also putting in efforts to return to power and stressing on the Kannadigas issue, reservation to the Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities by scrapping a religion-based reservation for the Muslim community. The government's move came in the later part of last year in a bid to promote Kannada. It was included in the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Bill.