'None of the above' (NOTA) option on EVM.
Credit: PTI File Photo
The Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka will be held in two phases on April 26 and May 7. Karnataka has a total of 28 Lok Sabha constituencies.
The first phase of the Karnataka polls will have elections in fourteen seats in South Karnataka, including Bengaluru North, Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Central, Bengaluru South and coastal areas.
The other 14 constituencies will go to the polls on May 7.
With 58,834 polling stations across the state, Karnataka has around 5 crore eligible voters, including 10 lakh in 18-19 age bracket.
Karnataka is the most important State for the BJP in south India as it's only here that it had held power in the past.
The Congress won a mere one seat out of the total 28 in the State in the 2019 general elections. Having scored a thumping victory in the Assembly elections, which witnessed a triangular fight between the Congress, BJP and JD(S) in May last year, the ruling party is determined to put up a strong show and has set an ambitious target for winning 15 to 20 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP swept the previous Lok Sabha elections bagging 25 seats, while an independent backed by it also won. The JD(S), headed by former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, emerged victorious in one constituency.
The Congress and the JD(S) were running a coalition government back then and had fought the election together. The JD(S) put up a poor show in the Assembly elections winning just 19 seats in the 224-member Assembly, while the Congress bagged 135 and the then ruling BJP 66 seats.
The regional outfit joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in September last year and is fighting the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the BJP.
(With PTI inputs)