The Karnataka State Election Commission has announced that bye-elections will be held on November 23 for a total of 43 urban wards, including one ward each in the Davanagere and Vijayapura municipal corporations. These elections are being held to fill vacancies caused by various reasons in local urban bodies across the state.
The official notification for the elections will be issued by district authorities on November 4. The last date for filing nominations is November 11, followed by scrutiny on November 12. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until November 14. Voting will take place on November 23, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. If necessary, re-polling will occur on November 25, and counting of votes will be conducted on November 26, with results announced the same day. The Model Code of Conduct will be enforced in the respective wards from November 4 to November 26.
The Election Commission has directed that the elections be conducted based on the existing Legislative Assembly voter lists, allowing voters to exercise the NOTA (None of the Above) option. The ballots will also include candidates’ photographs for clarity.
641 panchayat seats to also go to polls on November 23
In addition to urban wards, bye-elections have been scheduled for 641 vacant member seats in 531 gram panchayats across 31 districts in Karnataka. The elections will cover 195 taluks, filling vacancies caused by various reasons.
Notable regions with a significant number of vacant seats include Dakshina Kannada (30), Udupi (10), Kodagu (10), Bengaluru Urban (13), Ramanagara (21), Chikkaballapur (10), Kolar (16), Tumkur (30), Chitradurga (28), Davanagere (53), Shivamogga (19), Mysuru (21), Chamarajanagar (11), Hassan (22), Mandya (31), Chikkamagaluru (16), Belagavi (43), Bagalkote (27), Dharwad (17), Vijayapura (15), Gadag (7), Haveri (17), Uttara Kannada (13), Kalaburagi (30), Bidar (30), Vijayanagara (17), Raichur (30), Koppal (19), and Yadgir (15).