Campaigning for the first phase of the Karnataka polls came to an end at 5 pm on Thursday. The first phase of the elections will be held in 89 constituencies across the state on May 10.
As per the rules of the Election Commission of India, campaigning should stop 48 hours before the poll date. However, candidates are allowed to seek votes through door-to-door campaigning.
All the leaders battling it out in the first phase of the polls have returned to their constituencies and begun door-to-door canvassing. Prominent among them are Janata Dal - Secular star campaigner H D Kumaraswamy and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah.
Kumaraswamy, who spent the entire day campaigning in Ramnagar, will continue his door-to-door campaign till midnight, his aides told rediff.com. The former chief minister will resume door-to-door canvassing early on Friday morning.
Siddaramaiah, who was campaigning for the Congress in various parts of the state, has returned to his constituency at Varuna and is undertaking a door-to-door campaign at the moment.
In the first phase, 950 candidates including 17 women from various parties will face the elections. The first phase would have a total of 1,72,88,358 voters, out of which 88,73,734 are men while 84,14,624 are women.