Voting for 222 constituencies of the 224-member assembly began in poll bound state Karnataka 2018 today 8 AM. B.S. Yeddyurappa first to cast his vote at Shikaripura. After this Suttur mutt seer Shivaratri Deshikendra Swami was among the first few people to cast his vote at a booth in Krishnaraja segment.

There are no reports of EVM malfunctioning or tension in any part of the state. Voting began at a dull note in the midst of cloudy weather in Madikeri city.

Good voter turnout at Capitanio booths. Union Minister and BJP leader Sadananda Gowda also casted his vote in Puttur.

“ Certainly there will be increase in voting this time. They want to remove the Siddaramaiah government from Karnataka. People will come out in large numbers”, said  BJP leader Sadananda Gowda

BJP CM candidate BS Yeddyurappa said that people are fed up of the Siddaramaiah government. He urged people of Karnataka to come out and vote for BJP, and assured them of good governance.

The ruling Congress and the BJP are the main contenders for power, while former PM HD Deve Gowda's JD(S) is expected to play the kingmaker, according to most surveys and opinion polls.

On a related noteThere are more than 4.98 crore voters who are eligible to exercise their franchise to choose their representatives from a poll battle field of little over 2,600 candidates.