Dakshina Kannada records 75 pc polling

Mangalore, May 5: Mangalore, May 5: Dakshina Kannada district lived up to its reputation of registering a good voter turnout in the elections held in eight Assembly constituencies on Sunday.

The district administration said the entire polling process was incident-free and an estimated 75 per cent of over 15 lakh voters exercised their franchise.

Naxal affected areas

Polling in naxal affected areas in the Dakshina Kannada district was held peacefully with increased voter's turnout.

Kuthlur in Naravi gram panchayat, which is a prominent naxal affected area in the district, witnessed heavy turnout of voters in the morning itself. Out of 843 voters at booth number 5 of Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School in Kuthlur, 511 had exercised their franchise before 1pm. Similarly, out of 552 voters at booth number 6 at the same school, 331 had exercised their franchise before 1pm.

The booth in Kuthlur also drew the attention of people as Vittala Malekudiya, who was in judicial custody for about six months after he was arrested for allegedly abetting naxals, was a polling agent here. Vittala, who is a DYFI member, worked as a polling agent for CPI (M) candidate BM Bhat at the booth.

Confusion

A few cases of officials not allowing few voters to exercise their franchise for not bringing identity cards were reported from Infant Jesus Joyland School in Bolar and Kodikal during the day.

Yamuna, a woman in Kinnigoli had to return home after realising that her name was missing from the electoral list, although she had brought her voter ID.

Problems

At Kinnigoli, there was a minor disagreement when few voters had not brought any identification cards to the polling station along with their voter slips. Polling officials demanded to see any one of the ID cards that had been prescribed by the Election Commission before allowing them to vote.

A former member of Mennabettu gram panchayat Anitha said that many of the disgruntled voters had to fight with the officials, who later agreed to allow them to exercise their franchise.

Another person said that few voters had faced problems since the voters slip had not reached their homes. “Many in the interior villages had not received voters slip. They had to come to the polling booth to collect the slip from the Block Level Officer.”

Voters' woes

Few residents of Parameshwari Nagara, Navanagara and Kana complained of the location of their polling booth at Janata Colony in Suratkal saying that they had to travel a distance of three or four kilometres to reach it. As per the election code of conduct, any polling booth should be at a minimum distance of 1.5 to 2 kilometres away from their locality.

Amitha in Parameshwari Nagara in Chokkabettu said that those who owned vehicles could reach the polling booth. “It is impossible to walk up to the polling booth to exercise our rights. Even the frequency of buses is very less. We have to walk for a short distance to the polling booth in this heat even after alighting from the bus,” she said, adding that others residing adjacent were given a polling booth which was nearby.

Tara, a challenged person from Kana also had to travel for three kilometres to reach the polling booth at Janata Colony. “As she cannot walk, I had to hire an auto rickshaw to bring her to the polling booth to exercise her franchise,” said her mother.

First time voter

Voting for the first time, a nervous Shravani from Surathkal was pleased after exercising her franchise. “Initially I was slightly uncertain, but awareness programmes prior to elections instilled confidence in me. Now I'm glad to have cast my vote,” she said.

Senior citizens

Indira (87), a resident of Permude has been exercising her franchise since her first election. “I got married at the age of 13 and I am eager to cast my vote since day one. I have never missed a chance to vote for representatives. Despite the increase in humidity and overbearing heat, I have come to exercise my franchise,” she said enthusiastically.

Paulin D'Souza (81), a resident of Permude proudly affirmed that she had been exercising her franchise since the beginning. “All the youth should exercise their sacred right for their better future. With the help of my great grandson, I was able to visit the polling station to exercise my franchise,” she informed.

No NOTA

Polling staff and presiding officer at a booth in Pulithady village in Uppinangady of Belthangady constituency did not know what is meant by NOTA (none of the above) vote option under Section 49(O) of the Representation of the People Act. Voter Deepak waited for nearly two hours for Form 17 to cast NOTA vote, but officials failed to provide it. Finally, Deepak was forced to exercise his franchise through EVM.