On Wednesday, the Election Commission (EC) announced the date of the assembly elections in Karnataka. The election will be held on May 10, and the results will be announced on May 13.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told a news conference that election calls would be sent to the 224-member parliament on April 13 and end on May 24. The last date to submit nomination papers is April 20.

Nomination files will be reviewed on April 21, with the last date to withdraw nominations being April 24.

Voting will be held on May 10, counted on May 13, and the entire voting process will close on May 15.

Kumar said the election was scheduled for Wednesday rather than Monday or Friday to encourage more voter participation.

Karnataka has 9.17 lakh more first-time voters than in 2018-19. All young voters who turn 18 by April 1 can vote in the Karnataka state assembly election, Kumar said.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress have launched a fierce campaign for the election.

Karnataka has 52,173,579 registered voters in the state’s 224 assembly constituencies. There will be 58,282 polling places across the state.

The ruling party BJP, seeking to regain power in the state, now has 119 MLAs in the assembly, compared with 75 in Congress and 28 in ally Janata Dal (Secular).

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, aims to return to power. It has highlighted the Kannadiga issue and its recent decision to grant reservations to Lingayat and Vokkaliga communities by removing religious-based reservations for Muslim communities.