The 2024 Indian general election was held in Karnataka on 26 April 2024 and 7 May 2024, during the second and third phases respectively, to elect members of the 18th Lok Sabha.
Background The last date for filing nominations for candidates contesting in constituencies falling in the phase two of the polls was 4 April, and that for phase three was 19 April.
A total of 247 candidates, which included 226 men and 21 women, contested from the 14 constituencies that went for polls in phase two on 26 April. The constituency with most contestants was Chikballapur (29) and the least was Dakshina Kannada (9). More than 28.8 million voters were eligible to vote in 30,602 polling stations. Of these, 19,701 polling stations were announced to be webcast, and 1,370 would be covered via CCTVs. It also included 1,832 special booths with 1,120 of them dedicated to women voters. It was reported that those booths would only have women personnel, including the police and group-D workers. 224 booths were set up for disabled persons, with disabled persons serving as the personnel there. Another 224 booths were set up dedicated for youth with young officials as personnel, intended to encourage youth to take part in polling. In addition to this, one theme-based polling booth in every Assembly constituency was set up that intending to focus on the cultural heritage of the region. Ahead of the phase two, the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka stated that 140,000 personnel would be on duty and that 5,000 micro-observers, 50,000 civil police personnel, 65 companies of Central Parliamentary Force and State Armed Police force of other States would also be deployed for security.
The remaining 14 constituencies that went for polls on 7 May as part of phase three saw a total of 227 candidates contesting, which included 206 men and 21 women. Among these, the Davanagere constituency had the most candidates (30), and Raichur, the least (8). More than 25.9 million voters were eligible in 28,269 polling stations. Of these, 17,000 polling stations were covered by webcasting. Around 1.45 lakh officials were deployed, and additionally, 35,000 civil police personnel, 65 companies of the Paramilitary forces and armed police of other states were deployed. It was reported that 4,000 micro-observers would be on duty.
Election schedule
Poll eventPhaseIIIIINotification date28 March 12 April Last date for filing nomination4 April19 AprilScrutiny of nomination5 April 20 April Last Date for withdrawal of nomination8 April 22 April Date of poll26 April7 MayDate of counting of votes/Result4 June 2024No. of constituencies1414
Parties and alliances
National Democratic Alliance
PartyFlagSymbolLeaderSeats contestedBharatiya Janata Party B. Y. Vijayendra25Janata Dal (Secular)H. D. Kumaraswamy3Total 28
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance
PartyFlagSymbolLeaderSeats contestedIndian National CongressSiddaramaiah28 Others +Recognised parties PartyFlagSymbolLeaderSeats contestedBahujan Samaj PartyTBD21Communist Party of India (Marxist)TBD1Total 22 +Unrecognised parties PartySymbolSeats contestedKarnataka Rashtra Samithi28Uttama Prajaakeeya Party20Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist)19Rowspan=2 Bahujan Bharat Party4Bharatiya Prajagala Kalyana Paksha4Prahar Janshakti Party4Republican Party of India (Athawale)4Rowspan=9 Samajwadi Janata Party (Karnataka)4Young Star Empowerment Party4Country Citizen Party3Indian Labour Party (Ambedkar Phule)3Kannada Paksha3Karunada Sevakara Party3Navabharath Sena3Rashtriya Samaj Dal (R)3Republican Party of India (Karnataka)3Socialist Party (India)3Rowspan=3 All India Ulama Congress2Indian Movement Party2Janahitha Paksha2Karnataka Janata Paksha2Rowspan=6 Naki Bharatiya Ekta Party2Proutist Bloc, India2Purvanchal Mahapanchayat2Rani Chennamma Party2Sarva Janata Party2Tipu Sultan Party2Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi2Rowspan=9 Voters Independent Party2Bharatheeya Jawan Kisan Party1Bhartiya Bahujan Kranti Dal1Bhartiya Jan Samrat Party1Challengers Party1Delhi Janta Party1Desh Prem Party1Digvijaya Bharatha Party1Dr. Ambedkar People's Party1 Ekam Sanatan Bharat Dal1Rowspan=9 Gareeb Aadmi Party1Karnataka Karmikara Paksha1Karnataka Praja Party (RaithaParva)1Karunaadu Party1Kranti Kari Jai Hind Sena1National Maha Sabha Party1Proutist Sarva Samaj1Pyramid Party of India1Raita Bharat Party1 Rashtriya Samaj Paksha1 Rowspan=3 Republican Party of India Bharatha 1Samaj Vikas Kranti Party1Secular Democratic Congress1Total 161
Candidates
ConstituencyNDAINDIA1ChikkodiAnnasaheb JollePriyanka Jarkiholi2BelgaumJagadish ShettarMrinal Ravindra Hebbalkar 3BagalkotP. C. GaddigoudarSamyukta S Patil4Bijapur (SC)Ramesh JigajinagiH.R. Algur 5Gulbarga (SC)Umesh. G. JadhavRadhakrishna Doddamani6Raichur (ST)Raja Amareshwara NaikG Kumar Naik7BidarBhagwanth KhubaSagar Khandre8KoppalBasavaraj KyavatorK. Rajashekar Basavaraj Hitnal9Bellary (ST)B. SriramuluE. Tukaram10HaveriBasavaraj BommaiAnandswamy Gaddadevara Math11DharwadPralhad JoshiVinod Asooti12Uttara KannadaVishweshwar Hegde KageriAnjali Nimbalkar13DavanagereGayathri SiddheshwaraPrabha Mallikarjun14ShimogaB. Y. RaghavendraGeeta Shivarajkumar15Udupi ChikmagalurKota Srinivas PoojaryK. Jayaprakash Hegde16HassanPrajwal RevannaShreyas Patel Gowda17Dakshina KannadaBrijesh ChowtaPadmaraj18Chitradurga (SC)Govind KarjolB. N. Chandrappa19TumkurV. SomannaS. P. Muddahanumegowda20MandyaH.D. KumaraswamyVenkataramane Gowda21MysoreYaduveer WadiyarM Lakshman22Chamarajanagar (SC)S. BalarajSunil Bose23Bangalore RuralC. N. ManjunathD. K. Suresh24Bangalore NorthShobha KarandlajeRajeev Gowda25Bangalore CentralP. C. MohanMansoor Ali Khan26Bangalore SouthTejasvi SuryaSoumya Reddy27ChikballapurK. SudhakarRaksha Ramaiah28Kolar (SC)M Mallesh BabuK V Gowtham
Campaign The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Karnataka campaign kicked off in March 2024, a month before going to polls. It was announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Gulbarga, the constituency represented by Indian National Congress (INC) President Mallikarjun Kharge twice in the past. It was earlier reported that he would participate in four rallies between 15 and 19 March, starting in Kolar. He addressed a gathering in Kalaburagi (formerly Gulbarga) on 16 March to kick off the campaign. Modi alleged widespread corruption in Karnataka and stated: "Bad governance, disorder and anarchy start spreading in all directions when the entire capital of the entire State is being used for filling the belly, pockets and treasury of a few people. Congress had promised free electricity, but people got power cut and darkness. Farmers are asking how their pump sets in the field would operate when there is no power supply." Former Chief Minister of Karnataka and BJP leader B. S. Yediyurappa predicted that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would win all 28 seats from the State. Former Prime Minister and leader of the Janata Dal (Secular), which is a part of the NDA, H. D. Deve Gowda, also participated in the campaigns.
The INC, in March 2024, constituted a three-member campaign committee for Karnataka, which included Vinay Kumar Sorake, L. Hanumanthaiah and Rizwan Arshad. The incumbent Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah, of the INC, campaigned focusing on the constituencies of Mysore–Kodagu and Chamarajanagar for his party. He predicted that his party would win up to 20 seats and directed criticism at the BJP over "hike in price of petrol, diesel and domestic gas." Former INC President Rahul Gandhi addressed a gathering in Mandya and stated that the elections was a "a fight between two ideologies." He criticized the BJP over the Electoral Bond issue, terming it a form of "extortion". On the day of phase two polls, he addressed two public meetings in the northern Karnataka that was to go for polls on 7 May, and termed the BJP as "Bharatiya Chombu Party"; Chombu in Kannada meant a round water pot, to convey emptiness and deception. He accused the party of not giving Karnataka its drought relief amounting to 18,000 crore, and the 60,000 crore mandated by the Finance Commission, and gave "chombu" instead.
Surveys and polls Polling agencyDate publishedMargin of errorLeadNDAINDIAOthersABP News-CVoterApril 2024±3-5%2350NDAABP News-CVoterMarch 2024±5%2350NDAIndia Today-CVoterFebruary 2024±3-5%2440NDAABP News-CVoterDecember 2023±3-5%22-244-60NDATimes Now-ETGDecember 2023±3%20-226-80-1NDAIndia TV-CNXOctober 2023±3%18100NDATimes Now-ETGSeptember 2023±3%18-217-90NDAAugust 2023±3%18-208-100-1NDAIndia Today-CVoterAugust 2023±3-5%2350NDA Polling agencyDate publishedMargin of errorLeadNDAINDIAOthersABP News-CVoterApril 2024±3-5%52%42%6%10EedinaMarch 2024±2%42.4%43.8%13.8%1.4ABP News-CVoterMarch 2024±5%53%42%5%11India Today-CVoterFebruary 2024±3-5%53%42%5%11India Today-CVoterAugust 2023±3-5%44%34%22%10
Voter turnout Phase wise PhasePoll dateConstituenciesVoter turnout (%)II 26 April 2024Udupi Chikmagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South, Chikkballapur, KolarIII 7 May 2024 Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere, ShimogaTotal70.64%
Constituency wise Constituency Poll date Turnout Swing1Chikkodi7 May 202478.66%3.04%2Belgaum71.49%3.65%3Bagalkot72.66%1.96%4Bijapur (SC)66.32%4.43%5Gulbarga (SC)62.25%1.07%6Raichur (ST)64.66%6.32%7Bidar65.47%2.47%8Koppal70.99%2.43%9Bellary (ST)73.59%3.83%10Haveri77.60%3.39%11Dharwad74.37%4.08%12Uttara Kannada76.53%2.37%13Davanagere76.99%3.80%14Shimoga78.33%1.75%15Udupi Chikmagalur26 April 202477.15%1.08%16Hassan77.68%0.33%17Dakshina Kannada77.56%0.43%18Chitradurga (SC)73.30%2.50%19Tumkur78.05%0.62%20Mandya81.67%1.08%21Mysore70.62%1.11%22Chamarajanagar (SC)76.82%1.47%23Bangalore Rural68.30%3.32%24Bangalore North54.45%0.31%25Bangalore Central54.06%0.26%26Bangalore South53.17%0.53%27Chikballapur76.98%0.26%28Kolar (SC)78.27%1.02%70.64%1.83%
Results Results by alliance or party Alliance/ PartyPopular voteSeatsVotes%±ppContestedWon+/−rowspan="3" NDABJP17,797,69946.06 5.692517 8JD(S)2,163,2035.60 4.1432 1Total19,960,90251.66 1.552819 7INDIAINC17,554,38145.43 13.32289 8Others906,3842.35 2.75280 1NOTA217,4560.56 0.16Total38,639,123100% 2828
Results by constituency