Outdoor campaigning ends, Karnataka set for a big fight

BENGALURU: A month-long high-decibel campaign for the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka, often turning bitter and personal, ended on Monday evening amid predictions of a close contest between Congress and BJP.
Billed as the quarterfinal before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the assembly elections have a huge stake for regional player JD(S) too. Polling to elect 224 members of the assembly will be held on May 10, and the counting of votes will take place on May 13.
In all, 2,613 candidates are in the fray, including 185 women candidates and one from the 'Others' category.BJP has fielded candidates in all 224 segments, Congress is contesting from 223, and JD(S) in 207 constituencies. Bengaluru, which has 28 assembly segments, has 389 candidates, including 38 women. The last day of outdoor canvassing saw parties making last-ditch efforts to drum up support for their candidates, with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra meeting people and holding roadshows in Bengaluru. Candidates across parties, accompanied by leaders, took out roadshows and rallies before taking up silent, door-to-door campaigns to woo voters. Since the election schedule was announced on March 29, all major parties have run a campaign blitz across the state.
For BJP, PM Narendra Modi spearheaded the campaign as he gave a final push by addressing 18 rallies and six roadshows - three in Bengaluru and one each in Mysuru, Kalaburagi, and Tumakuru - during the past seven days to retain power in the state, which has not elected the incumbent party to power since 1985. Alongside Modi, BJP deployed its prominent leaders Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Nirmala Sitharaman, UP CM Yogi Adityanath and Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan.