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Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar, and other party workers will hold a screening committee meeting on Thursday in Bengaluru to finalise the remaining list of 100 seats.
Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Randeep Singh Surjewala, BK Hariprasad, and MB Patil will also be present in the meeting. Karnataka congress already announced tickets to six women candidates and eight minority candidates in the first list of 124 seats announced earlier in the month. The Election Commission of India will announce the schedule of the General Election to the Legislative Assembly of Karnataka slated this year at 11:30 am on Wednesday, the ECI said. The EC will hold a press conference at Plenary Hall, Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital. Karnataka, which has 224 seats in the Assembly currently has 119 MLAs of the ruling BJP, while Congress has 75 and its ally JD(S) has 28 seats. The names of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and State party president DK Shivakumar are included in the first list of 124 candidates. Siddaramaiah will be contesting from the Varuna constituency while DK Shivakumar would be the candidate from Kanakapura. Earlier, Siddaramaiah had expressed his interest to contest from the Kolar constituency but the Congress High Command instructed him to drop the plan following disagreements between the party's local leaders in the constituency. The party has fielded M Roopakala from the Kolar Gold Field constituency. Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar on Wednesday lashed out at the Basavaraj Bommai government saying that the earlier it is dismissed, the better it is for the state. Shivakumar expressed confidence in the Congress's preparedness for the Assembly elections. "Congress is ready for elections, we want this govt to be dismissed. The earlier this govt is dismissed, the better it is for the state and country. This election will be development-oriented and for a corruption-free state and country," Shivakumar told reporters in Bengaluru. Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the state Congress chief alleged that he is "compromising corrupt activities" in Karnataka."This election will be a model because corruption is at its peak. Modi encouraged corruption and did not open his mouth. He did not take any action on his party leaders. Only for the sake of party he is compromising a lot of corrupt activities. The BJP never gave employment to the youth. Our clean administration will bring our party to power," he said. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Karnataka Assembly elections. The polling would take place in a single phase on May 10, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday. The counting of votes will be done on May 13, the CEC said. Detailing the data of the electors, the CEC said that there are a total of 5.21 crores in the state and the number of 100 plus voters is 16,976. He informed that over 58,000 polling stations would be set up across the state."There are 224 Assembly constituencies of which 36 are reserved for the SCs and 15 for the STs. The total electorates in the state are 5,21,73,579 crores of which males are 2.62 crores and females are 2.59 crores. The total number of 80 plus electors is 12.15 lakhs. It is an increase of 32 per cent from 2018. It also includes 16,976 proud electors who are 100 plus. The number of persons with disabilities (PWDs) has increased to 5.55 lakhs. This is an increase of close to 150 per cent," Kumar said. He said that the first-time voters have increased from 2018-19 by 9.17 lakhs in Karnataka. (ANI)
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