Bangalore: India will know today if Karnataka scores a hat-trick of fractured mandates or gets a clear verdict as votes polled on Sunday in perhaps the most keenly watched assembly elections in the state are counted.
Over 71 percent of the 40.36 million eligible voters cast their ballots Sunday and counting would start at 8am today in 36 centres across the state.
Since electronic voting machines (EVMs) were used for polling, most of the results should be out by noon, say state election authorities.
Polling took place for 223 of the 224 elected seats in the 225-member assembly that includes one member nominated to represent the Anglo-Indian community.
In Periayapatna constituency in Mysore, polling has been rescheduled for the month-end following the death of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate.
The election of Karnataka’s 14th assembly caught national attention as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was mired in corruption scandals in the state while its main challenger, the Congress, was fighting similar problems at the federal level.
The Congress is upbeat that it will return to power on its own in Karnataka after six years in oposition, dislodging the BJP in the only southern state it for the first time managed to come to power in May 2008.
“We will form the government on our own,” asserts state Congress chief G Parameshwara and his party colleague Siddaramaiah, both chief ministerial aspirants.
They discount the possibility of the party falling short of majority mark of 113 by a few seats, as forecast by some exit polls telecast Sunday.
IANS
