The fate of as many as 2,615 candidates will be sealed on Wednesday as all the 224 assembly constituencies of Karnataka go to polls, with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) being locked in a three-cornered contest.
More than 5.31 crore voters—2.67 crore male, 2.64 crore female and 4,927 identified as others—will exercise their franchise to elect their new representatives in the state legislature.
Over 58,000 polling booths have been set up across the state to conduct the polls. Security arrangements have been tightened to ensure peaceful voting. Authorities have also taken action against possible troublemakers to maintain law and order during the polls.
After days of canvassing, a 48-hour-long silent period is currently underway in the state from 6 p.m. on Monday.
Monetary seizures have increased 4.5 times in Karnataka to Rs 375 crore, according to the Election Commission of India. The poll body has marked 81 constituencies as expenditure sensitive, with 146 expenditure observers deployed across the state for monitoring.