The Indian state of Karnataka is holding assembly elections today. Three major political parties of the state – BJP, Congress, and Janata Dal-Secular (JDS), have made their respective efforts to win voters.The majority mark to form the government in the state is 113 seats. It is anticipated that the Lingayat and Vokkaliga votes will play an important role in the elections. According to the sources, Lingayat comprises 17 percent of the population, whereas Vokkaligas are 11 percent.Varuna, Kanakapura, Shiggaon, Hubli-Darwad, Channapatna, Shikaripura, Chittapur, Ramanagara, and Chikmagalur are some of the constituencies that will make a major mark in the polls, this time. In the important districts, the BJP and Congress are running some of their best candidates. In its 224-candidate list, the BJP has also taken a bet by fielding 50 fresh faces. In the end, these senior officials who had been denied tickets by the BJP left the party and joined the Congress or JD(S).Notably, Karnataka is the only state in South India where BJP is in power. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are the only senior faces, who are campaigning for the party in Karnataka.On the other hand, with key leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Congress also engaged in loud campaigning with big promises.Some of the pledges made by the BJP in its manifesto include the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Whereas, the Muslim quota would be reinstated, along with larger reservations for other classes, cash handouts, and freebies, according to the manifesto of Congress. Let us look at who all got tickets this timeOne of them is the former chief minister of Karnataka, Jagadish Shettar, who joined the Congress after being turned down for a ticket for the Hubli-Darwad West Assembly seat and will be running from the same district as the Congress candidate. Shettar has won the seat numerous times.Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister of Karnataka, is another important candidate running from the Shiggaon district, where he has won three terms in a row.Varuna is yet another constituency with eyes. Siddaramaiah, a former chief minister and leader of the Congress, is running from Varuna, where he currently resides. He has a winning record dating back to 2008.Coming to Channapatna, the centre of conflict between Gangadhar of the Congress party, Yogeshwar of the BJP, and former chief minister and JD (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy. Yogeshwara and Kumaraswamy are both members of the prominent Vokkaliga group.Priyank Kharge, the son of Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, plans to run for office in the Chittapur Assembly district. In the Siddaramaiah administration, he also served as a minister.Apart from this, Aam Aadmi Party which recently was announced as National Party, has also released the list of candidates for who will contest the Karnataka Assembly polls.Voting in the Karnataka legislature will take place on Wednesday, and results will be declared on May 13.
