The Karnataka Assembly elections held on May 10 saw an impressive turnout of over 72.67%, which surpassed the figures from the previous election in 2018 (72.36%). The numbers are likely to go up after the final reconciliation of figures. Despite sporadic clashes between party workers, voting was largely peaceful. However, the turnout in Bengaluru was dismal at an estimated 54.51%, despite a campaign blitz by national leaders of all parties, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and special drives by the Election Commission to enthuse urban voters.
In stark contrast to Bengaluru, its neighbouring districts with large rural pockets recorded a heavy turnout. Chikkaballapura recorded a turnout of 85.83%, followed by Ramanagara at 84.98%, Bengaluru Rural at 83.76% and Tumakuru at 83.49%. After Bengaluru, Kalaburagi at 65.22%, Yadgiri at 66.66% and Raichur at 69.79% recorded relatively lower turnouts.
The election was held for a total of 224 Assembly constituencies, with 36 seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and 15 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes. The state has a total of 5,24,11,557 electors, out of which 5,23,63,948 are general electors. A total of 2,613 candidates contested the elections, out of which 2,427 were male, 185 female, and one was a transgender person. The counting of votes will be held on Saturday, May 13.