Election Commission To Announce Schedule Of Karnataka Assembly Polls At 11:30 AM

The Election Commission of India will announce the schedule of the General Election to the Legislative Assembly of Karnataka at 11:30 am today.

The Election Commission of India will announce the schedule of the Karnataka state Assembly Polls at 11:30 am today.

Both Congress and BJP have set a target of winning 150 seats in the state marred with controversies in the poll year.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Monday said the BJP will begin the process of choosing its candidates for the Assembly polls, in the coming days.

He said BJP's poll manifesto this time will be 'Praja Pranalike' (people's manifesto).

"Our process (of selecting candidates) will begin in the coming days, our process includes discussions at Assembly level, followed by district-level core committee. Then it will be deliberated at the state core committee, and will be decided by the central leadership," Bommai told reporters in response to a question.

The Congress and JD(S) have already announced their first list of 124 and 93 candidates, respectively.

The current assembly was constituted after the 2018 Karnataka assembly elections, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the largest party with 104 seats, but fell short of a majority. 

The Indian National Congress (INC) and the Janata Dal (Secular) (JDS) formed a post-poll alliance and came to power with HD Kumaraswamy as the Chief Minister. However, this government fell in July 2019 after a series of defections and the BJP formed a new government with BS Yediyurappa as the Chief Minister. 

Basavaraj Bommai took over as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on July 28, 2021, after his predecessor, Yediyurappa, stepped down from the post on July 26, 2021.

The Chief Minister also said that BJP's first list of candidates is likely to be announced in the first week of April.

"KPCC President D K Shivakumar since the last two to three days has been making phone calls to our MLAs in 100 constituencies where they are yet to announce candidates. He is stating that if you (BJP MLAs) come (to Congress) we will give you the ticket," Bommai alleged.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, "Congress leaders are frustrated, they don't have proper candidates at all, so he (Shivakumar) is calling our party people. This shows that as a matter of fact the Congress party is bankrupt." The Congress has announced its first list of 124 candidates on March 25 and is yet to announce tickets for 100 seats. Karnataka has a total of 224 Assembly segments.