NEW DELHI — The southern Indian state of Karnataka goes to the polls on Wednesday, in what analysts predict can be a detailed combat forward of a slew of different state votes and a common election by mid-2024.

Karnataka, residence to about 70 million individuals, is the one one amongst 5 southern states at the moment ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. But historic developments and a number of other pre-election surveys counsel that the opposition Indian National Congress social gathering has an edge.