Stage set for counting of votes in Karnataka: Main highlights

A record 72.36 percent of the 5.07 crore electorate cast their votes in Karnataka Assembly elections.

Pic courtesy: Reuters

Bengaluru: The counting of votes cast in 222 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka on May 12 will be taken up on Tuesday morning.

Following are main highlights of the high-stakes elections:

- A record 72.36 percent of the 5.07 crore electorate cast their votes, with 27,908 electors in defence services exercising their franchise through postal ballots.

- The Election Commission has deployed 16,662 personnel for counting of votes amid tight security.

- In all, 2,622 candidates, including 217 women contested the 222 seats, including 36 reserved for Scheduled Castes and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes.

- The election in Bengaluru's Raja Rajeshwari (RR) Nagar was postponed to May 28 due to the seizure of voter ID cards and countermanded in the city's Jayanagar seat due to the death of BJP candidate and MLA BN Vijaya Kumar on May 4.

- Vote counting in RR Nagar will be taken up on May 31.

- The highest voting percentage of 84.55 was recorded in Ramanagaram district, followed by 84.19 in Chikkaballapur, 84.03 in Bengaluru Rural, 82.53 in Mandya and 82.51 in Tumakuru.

- The lowest voting percentage of 54.72 was in Bengaluru Urban, followed by Kalaurgi 62.68, Raichur 65.80 and Yadgir 65.84.

- The ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fought in all 222 constituencies while the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) fielded candidates for 201 seats. Its ally Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) contested 21 seats. 

- There were 1,155 Independents and about 800 candidates from national, regional and fringe parties.

- Among the prominent candidates is CM Siddaramaiah from Chamundeshwari district in Mysuru and Badami in Bagalkot and his son Yatindra from Varuna in Mysuru.

- The others are the BJP's chief ministerial face BS Yeddyurappa from Shikaripura in Shivamogga district and JD-S state chief HD Kumaraswamy from Ramanagara and Channapatna in Ramanagaram district.

- Yeddyurappa became its first CM in south India when the BJP came to power for the first time on its own in the May 2008 elections.

- BJP's former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar is also in the fray from Hubballi-Dharwad Central. 

(With IANS inputs)