Bengaluru: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will begin the party's nationwide 'Satyamev Jayate' agitation on April 5 from Kolar, the very place where he made a remark on the Modi surname for which he was convicted of criminal defamation and was stripped of his Parliament membership, party state president D K Shivakumar said on Wednesday.

The announcement of the dates for the Karnataka state assembly elections by the Central Election Commission has put the code of conduct into force. As part of the implementation of the code, the authorities have recovered two government cars from the residence of Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the list of BJP candidates for the upcoming assembly elections is set to be released in the first week of April.

Ballari Municipal Corporation gets a new Mayor, as D. Triveni of Congress was elected to the post. Triveni, at the age of 23, has become the youngest Mayor in the state. On the other hand, B. Janaki of the Congress was elected as the Deputy Mayor without any opposition.

With the Election Commission of India announcing the dates for the Karnataka Assembly election, Chief Electoral Officer of the state Manoj Kumar Meena on Wednesday said the Model Code of Conduct had come into effect and that the administrative and police officers at the district level must implement it strictly.

The BJP will return to power with "full majority" in Karnataka under the leadership of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and his predecessor B S Yediyurappa, Union minister Pralhad Joshi asserted on Wednesday after the Election Commission announced the schedule for the state polls.

The ruling BJP is confident of returning to power in Karnataka with absolute majority, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Wednesday.

Assembly elections in Karnataka will be held in a single phase on May 10 and the votes counted on May 13, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday, setting the stage for a key BJP versus Congress electoral fight ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha showdown.