The Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 is being fought mainly between three parties – the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (Secular). While the Congress and the BJP are national parties, the JD(S) is a recognised state party contesting the elections.

The elections will be held on  12 May and counting will be done on 15 May.

HERE ARE SOME FACTS AROUND THE POLLS:

1. There are 224 seats in the assembly of which 36 are reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and 15 for Scheduled Tribes (ST).

2. A total of 4,96,82,357 voters will decide the fate of 2,655 candidates.

3. Voters breakdown:

There are 2,52,05,825 male voters out of a total male population of 3,48,27,715.

There are 2,44,71,980 female voters out of a total female population of 3,40,67,399.

4,552 voters identified as ‘others’.

There are 6 NRI voters and 27,908 service voters.

4. Population and ages:

With 37,42,466, there are more female voters than males in the above 60 age bracket.

The highest number of voters is in the age bracket of 25-40, with 95,31,923 males and 93,14,096 females.

The second highest number is in the 40-60 age bracket with 86,07,867 males and 83,70,371 females.

The age group 18-25 has the third highest number of voters at 34,87,004 males and 30,59,159 females.

5. Special constituencies and the contestants:

 Smallest by area: Dasarahalli

Just 8.91 sq kmin size, Dasarahalli has 2,36,853 male and 2,00,318 female voters.

BJP’s S Muniraju is the incumbent MLA from this constituency, which is a part of the Bengaluru north Lok Sabha seat.

PN Krishnamurthyfrom Congress and R Manjunatha from JD(S) will fight two-time MLA Muniraju for the seat.

Largest by area: Haliyal

Around 2782 sq km in size, Haliyal is located in Uttar Kannada district in north Karnataka. It has a total number of 86,012 male voters and 83,602 female voters.

Congress leader RV Deshpande is the sitting MLA from this constituency. Pitted against him this year are KR Ramesh of JD(S) and Sunil VHegde of the BJP. The famous Mallikarjuna temple is located in Haliyal.

Smallest by size of electorate: Sringeri

With just 1,60,199 voters, Sringeri has the smallest electorate but is one of the most significant religious towns in Karnataka.

Located in the hilly Chikkamagaluru district, Sringeri is famous for the Sharada Peeta – which was established by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century AD.

The sitting MLA is BJP’s DN Jeevaraj, who is up against Congress’ TD Rajegowda and JD(S)’ HG Venkatesh. Sringeri has been a BJP stronghold since 2004.

Largest by size of electorate: Bangalore South

Bangalore South has a total number of 5,58,670 voters. It is an urban section of the main Bengaluru city and has both posh areas as well as villages.

M Krishnappa from the BJP won from this seat in 2013 and 2008. This year, he faces Congress’ RK Ramesh and JD(S)’ R Prabhakar Reddy.

Must read : All set for the battle for Nava Karnataka

6. Other facts about constituencies:

(I) Not a single constituency has below 1.50 lakh electorate.

(II) There are 74 constituencies with a voter population between 1.50 and 2 lakh. Among them is Shikaripuraand Koratagere.

Shikaripura in Shivamogga (Shimoga) district is the constituency of BJP’s CM candidate BS Yeddyurappa.

Former home minister and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief G Parameshwara is contesting from Koratagere. He had won from the seat in 2008 but was defeated by JD(S) leader PR Sudhakar Lal in 2013. Both are in the fray along with BJP’s YH Huchhaiah.

(III) There are 150 constituencies with over 2 lakh voters. The names include Badami, Ballari City, Ballari, Molakalmuru, Harapanahalli, Shimoga rural, Shimoga, Udupi, Shantinagar, Chamundeshwari, Varuna, Channapatna, Ramanagaram, Molakalmuru

Chamundeshwari: CM Siddaramaiah won from Chamundeshwari five times – 1983, 1985, 1994, 2004 and the by-poll in 2006. But JD(S) leader GT Deve Gowda is the sitting MLA and a powerful Vokkaligga face, and is also a former protégé of Siddaramaiah.

Badami: The seat of Chalukya dynasty, it is a stronghold of Congress since 1978 barring three occasions. Siddaramaiah is also contesting from this seat since it has a sizeable Kuruba community (50,000 out of 2.14 lakh voters) to which the CM belongs. The biggest challenge he faces is from BJP’s B Sriramulu who holds sway over backward classes in the constituency.

Ramanagaram: This constituency with 2,05,031 voters has JD(S) CM candidate HD Kumaraswamy as the principal candidate. Ramanagaram is known for the silk used in the Mysore silk.

Shimoga: Former deputy CM during the BJP rule, KS Eshwarappa, is contesting from this seat. Eshwarappa has won from the seat in 1989, 1994, 2004, and 2008. In 2013, KB Prasanna Kumar of the Congress wrested the seat from the BJP. He now faces Eshwarappa and HN Niranjan of JD(S).

7. More numbers

Polling stations: 58546

No. of EVMs to be used in the elections:

Control Unit= 73,182 (@125%)

Ballot Unit = 87,819 (@ 150%)

Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) = 76,109 (@130%)

Main – 56,696

Auxiliary – 1,850