Karnataka Election 2018: The Election Commission to announce dates for Karnataka elections at 11 am
The Election Commission will today announce the dates for
Karnataka assembly elections at 11 am. The state has been in the spotlight where the ruling Congress hopes to retain power and resist the
BJP's aggressive campaign. While the elections are critical for the Congress that has been wiped out from most major states it used to rule, they are also important for the BJP to make in-roads into south India - a region that has proved
difficult for it to foray into. The state has seen
bitter campaigning by both the parities with
allegations of communal and political murders and
tit-for-tat charges of large-scale corruption. Leaders from both parties including
PM Modi, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and BJP's Amit Shah visited the state multiple times over the past few months. The
ongoing term for the Karnataka assembly, which has 224 seats, expires on May 28.
Here are the live updates of Election Commission's briefing on Karanataka election dates:
Addressing a rally in the Karnataka last month, Congress chief rahul Gandhi attacked PM Modi, demanding answers for the multi-thousand crore banking fraud linked to celebrity designer Nirav Modi. Mr Gandhi also invoked Basaveshwara, the 12th century social reformer from Karnataka who is revered by the Lingayats.
The ruling Congress in the state faces a tough challenge from the BJP, which launched its election campaign in November. The BJP spent 85 days campaigning across the state and organized a rally in Bengaluru addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP has decided to pitch BS Yeddyurappa as its chief ministerial candidate.
BJP chief Amit Shah held a massive roadshow in Shivamogga yesterday, where he launched the state BJP's "Karunadu Jagruti Yatre' a rally to awaken the electorate of Karnataka against the "misrule" of the Siddaramaiah government.
The Karnataka elections are important to the two major political parties - BJP and Congress who have been campaigning aggressively in the state for the last few months. For the Congress, retaining Karnataka is an imperative at a time it has lost its grip on much of India. The party is in power in just four states - Punjab, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Mizoram - compared to the BJP's 21.
The Election Commission is expected to announce the dates for the Karnataka elections 2018 in a briefing at 11 am today. The briefing is also expected to give more details regarding the election such as the constituencies, security measures and also announce the dates for the election results.
