New Delhi (PTI): 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.

Joshi, the Union minister of parliamentary affairs and MP from Karnataka's Dharwad seat, said he was confident about the BJP coming back to power for the second consecutive term because of its government's "historic" work for the development of the state.

"In view of the work that our double engine government has done for the development of the state under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I am fully confident that BJP will return to power with full majority in Karnataka under the leadership of Yediyurappa ji and Bommai ji," he said.

The Election Commission on Wednesday announced that assembly elections will be held in Karnataka on May 10 and the results will be declared on May 13.

Addressing a press conference here, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said the notification for the elections to the 224-member assembly will be issued on April 13 and the last date for filing nomination papers will be April 20.

Asked for his comment on the announcement of poll schedule, Joshi said the BJP government has done "historic work" for the development of Karnataka.

People of Karnataka are keen on giving mandate to the BJP for the second consecutive term as they know "the history of the Congress", he claimed.

"Congress makes false promises... They have not fulfilled the promises they made in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and recently in Himachal Pradesh," he charged.

"If development has to happen, Modi ji-led BJP has to be supported such kind of excitement is already visible among people (in Karnataka)," he claimed.

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The Kerala health department on Friday said another Mpox case was reported in the state and urged those who have symptoms to seek treatment.

The southern state had reported the country's first confirmed case of the new strain earlier this week.

A high-level evaluation meeting was held on Friday to evaluate the situation, the state health department said.

State Health Minister Veena George said the contact list of the patient has been prepared and the preventive measures have been taken.

The minister urged everyone who reached the state from abroad to approach the health department in case of any symptoms and seek treatment.

"Isolation facilities have been arranged in all the districts," the minister said in a statement.

On September 23, the health department had announced plans to release revised guidelines for the prevention and treatment of Mpox.

George had said that instructions were issued to take necessary action if the number of cases increases.

Official sources in New Delhi had earlier said that India had reported the first case of the Mpox strain in a patient from Kerala who tested positive.

They had said that the Clade 1b strain was detected in a 38-year-old man from Malappuram district who had recently returned from the United Arab Emirates.

Since the WHO's 2022 declaration of Mpox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, 30 cases have been reported in India.

Mpox infections are generally self-limiting, lasting between two and four weeks, and patients usually recover with supportive medical care and management.

It is transmitted through prolonged and close contact with an infected patient.

Mpox typically manifests itself with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications.