Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath announced on Wednesday that Karnataka will go for a single-phase assembly election on May 5 and the counting of votes will take place May 8.
Sampath said, "Election Commission will continuously monitor the ground situation and take adequate measures to ensure free and fair polls".
Sampath further added that the Election Commission has directed media certification committees to dispose off paid news cases in a time-bound manner.
"No election related officials or police officers will be in his or home district. Those who have completed three years in a district will be transferred out. All significant election related activity will be video-graphed," he added.
With the announcement of poll dates, the model code of conduct has come into force in Karnataka with immediate effect.
The tenure of the current 224-member Karnataka Assembly is set to expire on June 3.
Karnataka is currently ruled by the BJP, which is struggling ever since former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa left the party and formed his own political outfit.
The Congress goes into the assembly polls with an edge as it was way ahead of the BJP in the recently concluded urban local body elections in Karnataka. While the BJP's tally deteriorated to 907 seats, the Congress bounced back by winning 1,906 seats.
(with inputs from ANI)
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