Legislative Assembly elections were held in Karnataka on 10 May 2023 to elect all 224 members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. The votes were counted and the results were declared on 13 May 2023.

The election saw a final voter turnout of 73.84%, the highest ever recorded in the history of Legislative Assembly elections in Karnataka.

The Indian National Congress won the election by landslide victory by getting 135 seats, making it their biggest win by seats and vote share in Karnataka since the 1989 elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (Secular) conceded defeat, finishing second and third, respectively.

Background The tenure of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly ended on 24 May 2023. The previous assembly elections were held in May 2018. The Indian National Congress won the election in a landslide by getting 135 seats, making it their biggest win by seats and vote share in Karnataka since the 1989 elections.

Political developments

In July 2019, the coalition government collapsed due to resignations by several members of Congress and JD(S) in the assembly. Subsequently, Bharatiya Janata Party formed the state government, with B. S. Yediyurappa becoming Chief Minister.

On 26 July 2021, Yediyurappa resigned from the chief minister's post and Basavaraj Bommai was sworn in as the new chief minister on 28 July 2021.

Defections before polls On 19 February 2023, BJP leader H.D. Thammaiah joined Congress along with his supporters. On 9 March 2023, BJP MLC Puttanna joined the Congress. Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar quit BJP on 16 April 2023 and joined Congress the next day. Other leaders that left BJP before the polls included Laxman Savadi, M. P. Kumaraswamy and R. Shankar.

Schedule The schedule for the election was announced by the Election Commission of India on 29 March 2023. The Election Commission declared that the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct "came into force with immediate effect" with the announcement of schedule.

EventDateDay Date of notification 13 April 2023 Thursday Last date for filing nominations 20 April 2023 Thursday Date for scrutiny of nominations 21 April 2023 Friday Last date for withdrawal of candidatures 24 April 2023 Monday Date of poll 10 May 2023 Wednesday Date of counting 13 May 2023 Saturday

Election statistics

Electorate The total electorate in the state were 52,173,579 of which there were 26,200,000 men, 25,900,000 women and 4,699 transgender voters. 16,976 centenarians, 12.15 lakh voters over the age of 80 and 917,000 first-time voters were also included in the total. Moreover, 555,000 voters were physically challenged.

Polling stations The Election Commission announced 58,282 polling stations for the election, out of which 24,063 were in urban areas and 34,219 in rural areas. The commission announced that to ensure enhanced voter participation, 1,320 polling stations were to be managed by women, 224 each by youth and disabled personnel. 130,000 vials of indelible ink were supplied by Mysore Paints and Varnish for the polls.

Parties contested

National Democratic Alliance

+ Party Flag Symbol Leader Photo Seats contested Bharatiya Janata Party Basavaraj Bommai 224

United Progressive Alliance

+ Party Flag Symbol Leader Photo Seats contested Indian National Congress Siddaramaiah 223

Janata Dal (Secular)

Party Flag Symbol Leader Photo Seats contested Janata Dal (Secular) H. D. Kumaraswamy 209

Others Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats contested Aam Aadmi Party Prithvi Reddy 209 Karnataka Rashtra Samithi Ravi Krishna Reddy 195 Bahujan Samaj Party M. Krishnamurthy 133 Uttama Prajaakeeya Party Upendra 110 Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha G. Janardhana Reddy 46 Social Democratic Party of India M. K. Faizy 16 Samajwadi Party Shankar Bidari 14 Nationalist Congress Party Hari R 9 Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha Darshan Puttannaiah 8 Communist Party of India Sati Sundaresh 7 Janata Dal (United) Mahima patel 7 Communist Party of India (Marxist) U. Basavaraj 4 All India Forward Bloc 3 Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) 3 National People's Party 2 All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen 2 Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation 2

Candidates JD(S) released the first list of 93 candidates on 19 December 2022 and the second list of 49 candidates on 14 April 2023. Another list of 6 candidates on 15 April. and candidate for Chamaraja was announced on 16 April. A list of 59 candidates was released on 19 April. On the same day, another list was released wherein candidates from 12 constituencies were replaced and support was given to other parties in 7 other constituencies. Final list of 13 candidates was released on 20 April.

Karnataka PCC released the first list of 124 candidates on 25 March 2023, the second list of 41 candidates on 6 April, leaving one seat for Sarvodaya Karnataka Party, the third list of 43 candidates on 15 April, the fourth list of 7 candidates on 18 April, the fifth list of 4 candidates (including replacement for Shiggaon constituency) on 19 April and the sixth and final list of 5 candidates on 20 April.

BJP Karnataka released the first list of 189 candidates on 11 April 2023, the second list of 23 candidates on 12 April, the third list of 10 candidates on 17 April the fourth and final list of 2 candidates on 19 April.