Karnataka Polls: PM Modi Urges Youngsters, First-Time Voters To Vote In Large Numbers

Prime Minister Modi has urged youngsters and first-time voters to vote in large numbers in the Karnataka assembly election being held today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka, especially youngsters and first-time voters, to vote in large numbers and enrich the festival of democracy. He tweeted, "Urging the people of Karnataka, particularly young and first-time voters to vote in large numbers and enrich the festival of democracy." Karnataka is voting to elect a new government, with the incumbent BJP facing the challenge from the Congress. The Janata Dal (Secular) is third main player in the contest. The result of the election will be declared on May 13. The Karnataka election campaign came to an end on Monday (May 8). Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Former Congress General Secretary Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi have all campaigned in the state. Apart from national political leaders, Karnataka saw campaigning from various state chief ministers such as Assam's Himanta Biswa Sarma, Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath, and Madhya Pradesh's Shivraj Singh Chouhan. 

PM HELD 19 RALLIES

Prime Minister Narendra Modi alone held 19 election rallies and 6 roadshows across Karnataka during the campaigning season. PM Modi also held a shorter roadshow on Sunday, on a different route the day after a three-hour roadshow in Bengaluru. With only two days until the election, the party had gone all-in on leveraging the PM for one last push to retain power in what is expected to be a closely contested election.

A total of 5,31,33,054 electors are eligible to cast their votes in 58,545 polling stations across the state, where 2,615 candidates are in the fray. Among the electors, 2,67,28,053 are male, 2,64,00,074 female and 4,927 "others", while among the candidates 2,430 are male, 184 female and one from the third gender.

As many as 11,71,558 are young voters, while 5,71,281 are persons with disabilities (PWDs) and 12,15,920 are aged above 80. While the ruling BJP, riding on the Modi juggernaut, wants to break the 38-year jinx and retain its southern citadel, the Congress is seeking to wrest power to give the party much-needed elbow room and momentum to position itself as the main opposition player in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Also what needs to be watched out for, is whether former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda-led Janata Dal (Secular), will emerge as a "kingmaker" by holding the key for government formation, in the event of a hung verdict, as it has done in the past. "A government with full majority" seemed to be the favourite slogan for the leaders of all the political parties during campaigning, as they stressed on getting a clear mandate to form a strong and stable government in the state, unlike what happened after the 2018 polls.

A total of 75,603 Ballot Units (BU), 70,300 Control Units (CU) and 76,202 voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) are slated to be used during voting.