Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar won the Karnataka Assembly election 2023 from the Kanakapura assembly seat on as poll results were declared on Saturday. Getting emotional, DK Shivakumar gave credit to all Congress leaders and cadres for his win. He said, "I cannot forget when Sonia Gandhi came to meet me in jail... Everybody is responsible for this win. There is only one support, the Congress's support."

Shivakumar contested against state minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) R Ashok and Janata Dal Secular (JDS) nominee Nagaraj. Kanakapura has been a stronghold of the Congress and DK Shivakumar.

While DK Shivakumar is contesting from Kanakapura , his brother DK Suresh had also filed the nomination as a "precautionary measure" by the Congress in case Shivakumar's nomination had got rejected by the Election Commission.

Kanakapura (General) is an assembly constituency in the Ramanagaram district that falls under the Bengaluru Rural Parliamentary constituency.

DK Shivakumar had won this seat in 2018, defeating JD(S) candidate Narayana Gowda by a margin of over 1,27,500 votes.

The Kanakapura Assembly constituency has an estimated Scheduled Caste population of 18.89 percent and an estimated Scheduled Tribe population of 1.86 percent, according to the report of the Delimitation Commission, 2008.

Karnataka Assembly election 2023

This year, a triangular contest between the JD(S), the Congress and the BJP is likely to be witnessed in the southern state of Karnataka. It is the only state in South India where the BJP is currently in power.

The BJP is focused on retaining its hold on the state, while the Congress is determined to recapture the seats it lost in the previous election. Additionally, Senior JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy has confidently stated that his party will secure a majority with 123 seats and form the government independently.

There are a total of 58,282 polling stations, of which 28,866 fall in urban areas. The average number of voters per polling station is 883. The Election Commission of India said it has identified sensitive booths where it will deploy a three-pronged approach.

Demography in Karnataka

There are a total of 5.21 crore voters in the state, which includes 2.59 women voters and 2.62 crore male voters. Of the total voters, 12.15 lakh voters are above the age of 80, 16,976 are above the age of 100, 4,699 are third gender and 9.17 lakh are first-time voters. The Election Commission has said that it will set up special booths for vulnerable tribal groups and transgenders.

There are a total of 5.21 crore voters in the state, which includes 2.59 women voters and 2.62 crore male voters. Of the total voters, 12.15 lakh voters are above the age of 80, 16,976 are above the age of 100, 4,699 are third gender and 9.17 lakh are first-time voters. The Election Commission has said that it will set up special booths for vulnerable tribal groups and transgenders.

There are 9.17 lakh first-time voters in Karnataka. In a first, the ECI has also made voting from home available in the state for people above 80 years of age and those with disabilities in the upcoming elections.

First Published:May 12, 2023 10:15 AM IST