The commission announced that to ensure enhanced voter participation, 1,320 polling stations were to be managed by women, 224 each by youth and disabled personnel.

[76] Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah has demanded the resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai for failing in his duties to protect the state.

[79] Contractor Santhosh Patil (aged 40) who accused then-state cabinet minister K. S. Eshwarappa of harassing him for commissions committed suicide at Shambhavi Hotel in Udupi on 12 April 2022.

[83] In August 2022, two associations representing 13,000 schools in Karnataka wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government of corruption.

"Unscientific, irrational, discriminatory and noncompliance norms are applied to only unaided private schools and huge corruption is in place," the letter read.

[87] Congress party also released a 'corruption rate card' in English and Kannada languages, alleging the ruling BJP of looting ₹1,50,000 crore during last four years.

[90] According to political analysts Phani Rajanna and Sandeep Shastri, with Karnataka polls nearing, the BJP is raking up more and more communal issues to divide people and polarise the votes.

This has been shown by communal tensions started by right-wing Hindutva groups on use of hijab in government schools, sale of halal meat, broadcasting of azan on loudspeakers, a boycott of Muslim-run shops & Muslim employees similar to the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses, moral policing specifically targeting Muslims and violence against Christians, which have been linked to the Bommai government.

[91] Bommai was widely perceived to be weak within the Karnataka BJP,[92] due to which hardliners like Tejasvi Surya & B. L. Santhosh took over the reins of party administration.

[98] While various caste groups are working to make the controversial farm rules that the government passed two years ago the main topic for the forthcoming assembly elections, farmer organisations are getting ready to resurrect the issue.

[99][100][101] In Karnataka, a war brewing between two major milk cooperatives in the country has spilled over into a political slugfest ahead of the Assembly elections in the state.

[108][109][110] On 26 April 2023, BJP top leader Amit Shah said, "If the Congress comes to power, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high and Karnataka will be afflicted with riots".

[111] In response, Indian National Congress filed a police complaint against Amit Shah for provocative statements and promoting enmity.

[114][115] The Indian National Congress made allegations that Chilume Trust, an NGO in Bengaluru, had amassed voter personal data, including caste, age, gender, work and education information, Aadhaar cards, phone numbers and more.

[129][130] During an election campaign in Kalaburagi, Congress president and Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka Mallikarjun Kharge made a remark against PM Narendra Modi, calling him a 'poisonous snake'.

[131][132] Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai criticized the Congress leader and said that the comment will instead benefit BJP.

[135][136][137] The Indian National Congress released its state manifesto, saying that it will put a ban on the right-wing Hindu nationalist militant organisation Bajrang Dal for spreading hatred and communalism if elected to power.

Congress released an alleged audio clip on 6 May 2023 in which Manikanta Rathod, BJP candidate from Chittapur, could be heard abusing Kharge and talking about eliminating him and his family.

[148] In response, the Congress submitted a breach of privilege notice in Lok Sabha against PM Modi for the alleged "misrepresentation" of Sonia's speech.

[153][154][155] In the last days of campaigning period, Prime Minister Modi conducted road rallies, ignoring major issues in the country such as large scale unrest in Manipur, terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir and wrestlers' protests against MP of his party.

[160][161][162] The manifesto was divided into six sections- Anna (food security), Abhaya (social welfare), Akshara (education), Aarogya (health), Abhivrudhhi (development) and Aadaaya (income).

The party deployed local-level leaders Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar, Parameshwar, MB Patil, UT Khader, KJ George and the AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge.

Congress also took risk by mentioning ban of Bajrang Dal in its manifesto hoping to consolidate minority votes which could potentially go to JDS, a move which gave BJP some fuel in last few days of campaigning.

[166] Police started cracking down on Congress's PayCM campaign against the alleged corruption in the Bommai ministry upon the entry of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

[167] In the yatra, Rahul Gandhi stressed issues such as the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by the state BJP government[168] and the importance of regional languages, especially Kannada.

[173][174][175][176] Some of the main promises made in the Congress manifesto are: The Janata Dal (Secular) kickstarted the Pancharatna Yatra in Mulabagilu on 1 November 2022.

[197] D. K. Shivakumar, MLA from Kanakapura Constituency in Ramanagara district was designated as Deputy Chief Minister, while another 8 MLAs took their oath on 20 May 2023.