Karnataka assembly election results on May 15: All you need to know

New Delhi: The counting of votes cast in 222 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka on May 12 will be taken up on May 15 morning.
“All arrangements have been made for counting of votes in 222 seats from 8 a.m. onwards at 38 centers in 30 districts, including five in Bengaluru where polling was held in 26 of the 28 segments,” Chief Electoral Officer Sanjiv Kumar told reporters.
The trends are likely to begin to trickle within an hour and all results are expected to be declared by late evening.
The Election Commission has deployed 16,662 personnel for counting of votes amid tight security.
“Postal ballots will be counted first before the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are opened,” Chief Electoral Officer said.
In all, 2,622 candidates, including 217 women contested the 222 seats, including 36 reserved for Scheduled Castes and 15 for the Scheduled Tribes.
Polling for R.R. Nagar seat was deferred on account of alleged electoral malpractices, while it was countermanded in Jayanagar seat following the death of the BJP candidate.
Several exit polls have predicted a hung Assembly, and said former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s JD(S) would play the role of the kingmaker.
In case of a clear verdict in favour of the Congress, the grand old party will have broken the jinx of no political party retaining the reins of the state since 1985, when the erstwhile Janata Dal formed the government under Ramakrishna Hegde for a second consecutive term.
A victory for the BJP, on the other hand, will reflect the enduring charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his capacity to power his party to victory across the country, clearing demographic and topographical obstacles.
It would also further galvanise the BJP cadre before the Assembly elections in party-ruled Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh later this year.
The JD(S) has also claimed it would win a majority and that its chief ministerial candidate H.D. Kumaraswamy will be the “king” and not the “kingmaker”. The party may or may not win the elections, but will play the kingmaker if the electorate give a split verdict, making Deve Gowda an important player in the state politics once again.

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