Single-phase Karnataka Assembly polls on May 5: Election Commission

Karnataka Assembly election will be held in a single phase on May 5 and counting of votes will be on May 8, the Election Commission said today. Announcing the schedule for election to the 224-member Karnataka Legislative Assembly, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath said "the model code of conduct shall come into force with immediate effect." The CEC said the poll notification will be issued on April 10 when candidates can start filing nominations. The last date for nominations is April 17 and after scrutiny the next day, the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is April 20. The polls will be held from 8 am to 5 pm and electronic voting machines will be used for these elections. There are a total of 4.18 crore voters in Karnataka and as many as 50,446 polling stations will set up. While 36 constituencies are reserved for SCs, 15 are reserved for STs in the state. The tenure of the current 224-member Karnataka Assembly expires on June 3. The last assembly polls were held in three phases. Sampath said adequate number of general, expenditure, police and micro observers will be deployed to check the use of money power during elections. There will also be close monitoring of any cases of paid news. He said contesting candidates will have to file their details in a single Form 26, the revised format of filing affidavits listing out their criminal record and other details. The CEC said polling parties and security forces deployed for poll duty will be randomised as per EC instructions under the supervision of election observers.