New Delhi, March 27: The Election Commission (EC) of India has announced the schedule and dates for Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 on Tuesday. The state of Karnataka will go to poll on May 12, 2018. The counting of the votes will be done on 15 May, 2018. The Election Commission has announced that it will be a single phase election. The assembly elections have become a do or die for the Congress which is in power in the state. The Congress government in Karnataka is led by chief minister Siddaramaiah. The Karnataka elections will also be a test of Amit Shah's organisational skill and is an important state for the party considering their ambition to form government in southern states. After the recent loss in Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, the Bhartiya Janata Party will be eager to win in Karnataka. Congress is also going all out to retain one of the few bigger states that it is in power currently.

The Karanataka assembly term ends on May 28, 2018. The legislative assembly elections for the southern state, which will be held in 2018, will elect members of the total 224 constituencies in Karnataka. The Indian National Congress is the party in power in Karnataka. Karnataka has a parliamentary system of government with two democratically elected houses, the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, like Maharashtra. The Legislative Assembly consists of 224 members elected for a period of five-year terms. Whereas, the Legislative Council is a permanent body of 75 members and its one-third members, that is 25 members, retire every two years. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and BJP President Amit Shah are already in poll mode in the state.

The Karnataka assembly elections 2018 will be fought tooth and nail. One can expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lead the election campaign blitz in Karnataka. The two national parties are already camping and have introduced their star campaigners in the state. Here is a list of states which were bound to go to polls in 2018. 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 27, 2018 11:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).