Karnataka Assembly Polls: Former CM Yediyurappa visits ancestral temple before casting vote in Shivamogga
Yediyurappa urged the public to exercise their franchise and stated that he was confident that more than 75-80 pc of voters would support the BJP
Shivamogga, May 10: On Wednesday, former Chief Minister of Karnataka and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, BS Yediyurappa cast his vote at Adalitha Soudha in Shivamogga during the Karnataka Assembly polls.
After casting his vote, Yediyurappa urged the public to exercise their franchise and stated that he was confident that more than 75-80 per cent of voters would support the BJP, and the party would win 130-135 seats.
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He further added that the BJP would get an absolute majority and form the government without any doubt. He also visited the ancestral temple at Raghavendra Swamy Mutt in Shikaripura with his family before heading to the polling station.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Minister CN Ashwath Narayan also cast his vote in Bengaluru and appealed to the public to exercise their right to vote. The polling began at 7 am and continued until 6 pm under tight security.
The voting was held for 224 assembly constituencies in Karnataka, with 2,615 candidates contesting for the polls. The fate of the candidates would be known on May 13th, the day of the counting of votes. Polling took place across 58,545 polling stations, including auxiliary polling stations.
According to the Election Commission of India, the majority mark required to form the government is 113 seats. A total of 42,48,028 new voters have been registered to vote for the assembly elections. As many as 5.3 crore general voters cast their vote in 58,545 polling stations in 37,777 locations.
Out of which, 11,71,558 were young voters, 12,15,920 were 80 senior citizen voters, and 5,71,281 were PwD (Persons with Disabilities) voters. Around 4,00,000 polling personnel were engaged in poll processes.
To ensure law and order efficiently and handle Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations, 84,119 State Police Officers and 58,500 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) officers in 650 Companies were on security duty across the state.
All police officers were on rounds to maintain law and order efficiently, and 185 interstate border check-posts were on high alert by the police and other personnel. 100 Excise interstate border check-posts were also on high alert. Commercial tax officers were deployed in 185 Check Posts (SSTs) and 75 Excise Check-posts.
The high-voltage campaign for the assembly elections in Karnataka ended on May 10th, with all party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, holding 19 public meetings and six roadshows. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi camped in the state for 12 days.
Some of the key constituencies that are expected to make a major mark in the polls are Varuna, Kanakapura, Shiggaon, Hubli-Darwad, Channapatna, Shikaripura, Chittapur, Ramanagara, and Chikmagalur.
The counting of votes will take place on May 13.