Karnataka Assembly elections 2018: 5.6 crore voters, 58,000 booths and other number highlights

The battle for Karnataka is almost here with two major political rivals - BJP and Congress - going to extra mile to woo voters.

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Bengaluru: The stage is set, promises made, accusations thrown and battle lines drawn - Karnataka is all set to vote this Saturday in what promises to one of the most exciting political battles of 2018. Two main parties - Congress and BJP - have been at each other in the last few weeks. While Congress has attempted to highlight the achievements of the Siddaramaiah government and bash rivals as incompetent, the BJP has returned fire at every step courtesy numerous rallies by party chief Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and even UP CM Yogi Adityanth.

In the end, 5.6 crore voters would decide if Siddaramaiah will be given another term or if BS Yeddyurappa is brought back as CM once again. Here are some of the other numerical highlights ahead of the crucial voting on May 12:

* 5.6 crore voters are expected to exercise their democratic right in the Karnataka Assembly elections. In the 2013 elections, there were 4.18 crore voters in the state.

* A total of 58,000 booths across the states have been set up. In 2013, there were 50,446 polling stations.

* Of all the booths this year, 600 would be completely managed by women and would be called 'Pink Booths', according to Chief Electoral Officer S Kumar.

* More than 10 booths would be managed by specially-abled people while 28 booths will have an ethnic design.

* Kumar told news agency ANI that 80,000 Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) along with 80,000 Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) will be used.

* A total of Rs 70 crore in cash and liquor worth Rs 32 crore has been seized so far (Tuesday).

* According to Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), affidavits filed by 2,560 candidates reveal that 391 candidates have criminal cases against them. Of the 223 BJP candidates assessed by ADR, 83 (37%) have criminal cases against them. Of the 220 Congress candidates assessed, 59 (27%) have criminal cases against them. Of the 199 Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) candidates analysed by ADR, 41 (21 percent) have criminal cases. (Complete details here)

* More than 50,000 Central forces will be deployed to ensure safety and security.