KARNATAKA VOTES

The Assembly

• The Karnataka legislative assembly is a 224-member assembly of elected representatives. One additional member is nominated. The simple majority mark is 113.

• The total number of reserved constituencies for scheduled castes and tribes for the current elections is 51--up from 35 in the 2004 polls--following delimitation of constituencies. The SC seats are 36 and ST seats are 15.

The Polls

Elections will be held in three phases.

Phase 1 on May 10 will cover 11 districts and 89 constituencies. The 11 districts that will go to the polls are the southernmost ones in the state--Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Ramanagara, Mandya, Chamarajnagar, Mysore, Kodagu, Hassan, Tumkur, Chikaballapur and Kolar.

Phase 2 on May 16 will cover 10 central and coastal districts and a total of 66 constituencies of the state. The districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada in the coastal belt; Shimoga and Chikamagalur in the Western Ghats; Davangere, Chitradurga, Bellary, Koppal and Raichur in the plains will be covered in this phase.

Phase 3 on May 22 will cover eight districts and 69 seats in the northern most part of the state. Districts bordering Maharashtra are referred to as the Bombay-Karnataka districts and others bordering Andhra Pradesh are referred to as the Hyderabad-Karnataka districts. The districts are Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Gulbarga and Bidar.

Results May 25

CASTE AND THE BALLOT

Caste lines become distinct as political parties draw their battle lines.

Lingayats make up nearly 30% per cent of the population and are largely spread over the northern districts. The Lingayats are a progressive 12th century breakaway Hindu group, comprising various original classes of people including Brahmins and Dalits, brought together mainly by the saint Basavanna.

Vokkaligas have been the biggest rivals of the Lingayats in the power struggles in Karnataka. They make up 20 per cent of the population and are spread over the more fertile southern districts that go to the polls in the first phase. An agricultural community, the Vokkaligas are similar to the Kurmis...