Bengaluru: The counting of votes polled for the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls, which witnessed a fierce fight between archrivals BJP and the Congress, besides the JD(S) will be taken up tomorrow amidst tight security.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made across the State, especially in and around the counting centres, to avoid any untoward incidents, official sources said.
The electoral fortunes of top leaders– Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP, Congress heavyweights Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar and JD(S)* HD Kumaraswamy, among many others will be known tomorrow.
Karnataka recorded a voter turnout of 72.67 per cent in the Assembly elections, which is slightly above the previous polls in 2018.
The Congress manifesto proposing to ban the Bajrang Dal heated up the later half of the campaign as the BJP and Prime Minister Modi aggressively latched on to the issue to portray the grand old party as being against Lord Hanuman and the sentiments of Hindus. Barbs like ‘venomous snake’, ‘Vishakanya’ and ‘Nalayak beta’ vitiated the poll campaign as some leaders used intemperate and abusive language.
While Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who hails from Karnataka, likened Modi to a ‘venomous snake’ and his son and Congress candidate Priyank Kharge called the prime minister a ”nalayak beta”, BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal described former Congress president and MP Sonia Gandhi as a ‘Vishakanya’ (venomous woman).