Half of Karnataka goes to polls on Friday; 2.88 crore voters to choose 14 MPs

About 2.88 crore electors will vote and choose 14 MPs in half the constituencies in Karnataka on Friday, according to election commission data. Campaigning ended on Wednesday, with the BJP-JDS coalition and the Congress having given their best shot to improve on their tally over the 2019 outcome.

Out of the total voters, around 1.44 crore are men, 1.43 crore are women, and 3,067 voters belong to the third gender. The election commission has set up 30,602 polling booths in these constituencies. A total of 1.40 lakh polling officers, 5,000 micro observers and 50,000 civil police, apart from 65 companies of CRPF and Reserved Armed Forces from other States have been deployed in these stations for the polls.

With Karnataka seeing soaring temperatures in most parts of the state, people will be allowed to vote till 6 pm, and the booths will remain open till the last person votes. “The EC has issued guidelines on addressing the potential challenges posed by the heatwave and to ensure the safety and well-being of electors, especially senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PwD), as well as election personnel in the polling stations. Polling stations are equipped with adequate shade structures, such as tents, canopies of umbrellas, with provision for chairs, to protect voters from direct sunlight,” said Chief Electoral Officer for Karnataka Manoj Kumar Meena.

Besides these, booths have been equipped with fans, adequate ventilation, as well as special medical kits to manage dehydration and sunstroke. “Trained ASHAs or ANMs will be deployed in the polling stations in coordination with the Health Department. One ambulance will be mapped to every 10-15 polling booths,” Meena said.

Polling in the rest of the constituencies in the state will take place on May 7. Around 2.50 voters have registered there and the commission has set up 28,269 polling stations for them.