Bengaluru, December 3: Days ahead of by-elections in four assembly seats in Bengaluru, the security has been tightened in the city. According to reports, around 2,800 police personnel have been deployed in the area to avoid any untoward incident during the elections. Section 144 has also been imposed in KR Puram, Yeshwanthpura, Mahalakshmi Layout and Shivajinagar constituencies of Bengaluru from December 3-6. Karnataka By-Elections 2019: Why Bypolls to 15 Seats Matter For BJP.

The election commission of November 10 announced the dates for Karnataka Assembly bypoll. A total of 15 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka are going to bypolls on December 5. The counting of the votes has been scheduled for December 9. The last date of filing nominations for the bye-elections was from November 11-18.

The Model Code of Conduct immediately came into effect after the announcement of election dates. The by-elections for 15 constituencies in Karnataka were earlier scheduled for October 21. However, they were postponed to December 5 as the case pertaining to the disqualification of 17 MLAs was pending in the Supreme Court. Karnataka By-Elections 2019: Siddaramaiah, Former CM, Claims Congress Will Win 12 Out of 15 Seats.

Meanwhile, the elections on two assembly seats have not been announced yet as the MLAs of these constituencies had filed a separate petition against their disqualification. The top court’s verdict on their plea is still pending.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) need to win at least seven seats to remain in power. Currently, the saffron party has 105 MLAs. With 15 out of 17 seats going to by-polls in December, the effective strength of the assembly will now be 223.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 03, 2019 09:52 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).