After a one-month long campaign under the scorching summer where the state had witnessed a flow of national leaders to ensure their votes intact, voters in Karnataka started expressing their mandate. Polling began at 7 am in the morning and will go on till 6 in the evening.
The Karnataka election has earned a reputation for a "mini parliament" election considering the size of the state and the first election after Congress president Rahul Gandhi announced himself as the PM candidate for the general election next year. So a Rahul-Modi fight is on the cards which will be the same case in the 2019 election as well.
There are 224 assembly seats in Karnataka while the election will be held in 222 seats. Polling in RR Nagar constituency has shifted to May 28 as many voters identity cards were raided from a flat in Bangalore and one more seat also left out of the election scenes today as the BJP candidate had died during the election campaign in the Jayanagar constituency.
4.9 crore people will go to polling booths today, 12 percent higher than 2013 election. 2654 candidates have been contesting in this election throughout the state and more than one and half lakh voting machines have been arranged.
Election results will be declared on May 15.
