The Election Commission of India has announced Assembly Election Schedule – 2018 for Karnataka State. The polling will be held on 12th May and the counting of votes will be taken up on 15th May 2018. Karnataka Assembly elections have become prestigious for both Congress and BJP parties.
Following is election schedule:
Release of election notification: 17th April 2018
Last date for filing nominations: 24th April 2018
Last date for withdraw of nominations: 27th April 2018
Date of polling: 12th May 2018
Counting of votes: 15th May 2018
Karnataka has 224 Assembly seats. Following is the present strength of the various political parties in Karnataka Assembly.
Indian National Congress: 122 seats
Janata Dal – Secular: 40 seats
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): 40 seats
Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP): 6 seats
Independents: 9 seats
Badagara Shramika Raitala Congress: 4 seats
Samajwadi Party: 1 seat
Karnataka Makkala Paksha (KMP): 1 seat
Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha: 1 seat
Congress party has secured 54.46 vote share in 2013 elections while JD-S and BJP have garnered 17.86 percent of votes each. The political analysts says that the Congress Party is more likely to retain power in Karnataka. The BJP is also confident of regaining the power from Congress.