Karnataka

19 per cent polling in Karnataka19 per cent polling in Karnataka

Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

vote1

Parts of Bangalore South parliamentary constituency, where BJP leader Ananth Kumar is pitted against Congress candidate Nandan Nilekani, former UIDAI chief, saw huge crowds outside polling booths.

Polling for the single-phase elections to 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka began on a moderate note on Thursday with Election Commission officials estimating the turnout to be around 19 per cent by 11.30 am.

votin-progress

Though polling has been by and large peaceful throughout the State, two poll officials and two voters had died due to cardiac arrests during the elections.

Election Commission officials said one poll official had died in Tumkur and another in Belgaum. While 65-year-old Nanjundappa died after casting his vote in Kengeri on the outskirts of Bangalore, a 70-year old woman had died in Dakshina Kannada district.

a1

a2

a3

Karnataka_polling

pranitaa

ramesha-sr

siddaga

venkayya

vo

vote2

Though polling appeared moderate across Bangalore, parts of Bangalore South parliamentary constituency, where BJP leader Ananth Kumar is pitted against Congress candidate Nandan Nilekani, former UIDAI chief, saw huge crowds outside polling booths.

Voters were seen queuing up outside the booths in Padmanabhanagar in the constituency well before 7 am, the scheduled start of polling. Many booths in Hanumanthanagar and Uttarahalli recorded a good turnout since morning with voters, many of whom stood for more than half an hour to cast their vote, describing the early morning rush as “unusual”. The queues, however, appeared to come down after 11.30 am.

Meanwhile, Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT), which will print out the choice made by the voters, was also tried out in Bangalore South constituency with the officials displaying banners outside the booth to explain its working.

In Bangalore North parliamentary constituency people queued up outside polling booths to cast their votes while police and election commission officials in Kodigehalli complained that they had not been provided any refreshments by the authorities.

Voting was held up for more than half an hour in one booth in Impact College in Kodigehalli as one Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) was not working. Several senior citizens including D B Subbegowda, 84, and B Leelavathi, 80, turned up at the polling booths in Kodigehalli in Bangalore North to cast their votes.

In some parts of Bangalore Central and Bangalore North constituencies, confusion was witnessed outside polling booths with people, who were recently enrolled as voters, trying to confirm their inclusion and locating their polling booths.

With each booth having been divided into two or three “parts” of voters’ list, polling officials directed voters to check for their names in the “parts” of the lists available with the volunteers of political parties seated outside. Confusion over voters’ list prevailed outside St. John’s school booth near Malleshpalya and BBMP School in Frazer Town.

Complaints of names going missing from the voters’ list were heard from people in Tilaknagar and Yarab Nagar in Bangalore.

While former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and his Chennamma cast their vote in Hassan, former Union Minister M Veerappa Moily voted in Chikkaballapur and former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa cast his vote in Shimoga.

Celebrities including actors Jayamala, Ganesh, Jaggesh, Duniya Vijay and Bharathi Vishnuvardhan cast their votes in their respective constituencies while Jnanpith awardee Chandrashekar Kambar voted in Banashankari and Infosys chief N R Narayanamurthy cast his vote in J P Nagar.

Write A Comment