Karnataka 3rd phase tomorrow

By OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi, May 20: The third phase of elections in Karnataka will be held on May 22 in which 69 Assembly constituencies will go to polls. In total, 699 candidates including 46 women, will be competing in the third phase.

As many as 60,24,206 men and 57,83,453 women voters will exercise their franchise in this long-drawn state elections which began on May 10 with the first phase. The results for all the phases will be out on May 25.

Khanapur constituency has the maximum number of candidates with 23 contesting for the seat. While, two constituencies — Basavana Bagevadi and Gadag — has the minimum candidates with five contesting in each of the seats.

Two constituencies also have more than one women contesting for the same seat. These are, Dharvad and Haveri, where three women are contesting for the seat. There is not a single constituency where there is a straight one-to-one contest but with three main parties, that is not surprising.

The three main parties in the state — Congress, BJP and JD(S) — are contesting on all the seats, while BSP is contesting in 68 seats out of 69. CPI and CPI(M) are both contesting in one seat each and the number of independents and others total a massive 422. The Election Commission is conducting the elections under a massive security blanket following the recent clashes in the state. In total, 14,714 electronic voting machines will be used in the third phase, in 12,422 polling stations which include 689 auxiliary polling stations.