Bangalore:
Karnataka has recorded 65 per cent voter turnout as polls closed at 6 PM. There are nearly 3000 candidates in the fray for the 225-strong Assembly; 224 MLAs are elected and one is nominated.
As many as 1.35 lakh police personnel - 60,000 from the state, 20,000 home guards and rest from central paramilitary and neighbouring states oversaw the voting. (
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The counting of votes will take place on May 8.
Among the early voters today was BS Yeddyurappa - the BJP's first Chief Minister who quit the party in December and set up the Karnataka Janata Party (KJP). He voted from his constituency of Shikaripura. "Here, I am going to get absolute majority. We will be the single-largest party and will form the government," he said.
A series of A-listers - Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Congress no 2 Rahul Gandhi -- blitzed through the state over the past few weeks, ensuring a high-pitched finale to electioneering. (
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While BJP leaders have expressed confidence about retaining power, the Congress campaign has asserted that the state's voters will return it to power and cites the party's impressive win in the recent urban body elections as an indicator of which way the political winds are blowing in Karnataka.
The Janata Dal-Secular, another big player in Karnataka, fancies its chances too.
Though Mr Yeddyurappa's KJP is not expected to gain enough numbers to form a government on its own, there's little doubt that it will be significant. The KJP could split votes in the Lingayat community, considered a BJP stronghold.
In the 2008 elections, the BJP secured 110 seats, three short of majority, and went on to form the government with the help of independents. The Congress bagged 80 seats and the JDS 28.