Voting begins in 15 Assembly Seats in Karnataka

Voting
started in fifteen assembly constituencies in Karnataka on Thursday, the
results of which would determine the fate of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa-led
BJP government in the state.

The polling that began at 7 am is scheduled to conclude at 6 pm, the results of which will be declared on December 9.

The
by-elections are being held to fill the vacancies caused by the
disqualification of 17 rebel Congress and JD(S) MLAs, whose rebellion led to
the collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July and paved
the way for the BJP to come to power.

The BJP
needs to win at least six of the 15 seats to remain in majority in the
225-member assembly (including the Speaker, who has a casting vote), which would
still have two vacant seats, Maski and R R Nagar.

In the
assembly with the current strength of 208 after the disqualifications, the BJP
has 105 MLAs (including an independent), the Congress 66 and the JD(S) has 34
MLAs.

There is
also one BSP member, a nominated member and the Speaker.

A total
number of 165 candidates are in the fray for bypolls from all the fifteen
constituencies, of which 156 are men and 9 are women.

The Election
Commission and police have made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct
of the bypolls in all the 15 constituencies.

Out of total
42,509 personnel deployed for election management, 19,299 are polling
personnel.

As many as
11,241 personnel from state police and 2,511 Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF)
have been deployed on security duty.Polling officials said 884 polling stations
have been marked critical and 414 stations will be manned by CAPF.