70.23 percent voter turnout estimated in peaceful Karnataka polls

Meanwhile, the Bangalore city saw a hightest turn out of 52.83 in the state's polling history.

The 7 AM-to-6 PM polling began on a brisk note but appeared to lose steam as the mercury soared before picking up momentum again in the last hours in 223 seats in the 224- member House for which a total of 2,940 candidates were in the fray.

Election in Periyapatna in Mysore district has been put off to May 28 following the death of the BJP candidate.

Briefing reporters, Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha said a turn out of 63.09 per cent was reported till 5 PM. "Going by the trend we saw in the evening hours, we are estimating it should reach 69 per cent."

Counting of votes will be taken up on May 8.

Prominent candidates included Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee G Parameshwara, former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and JDS state unit President H D Kumaraswamy.

Authorities had made elaborate security arrangements with 1.35 lakh police personnel on duty in some 52,000 polling booths where about 65,000 electronic voting machines had been installed.

Barring sporadic incidents, including one at Bellary, the voting was largely peaceful. None of the incidents was of such a nature that called for repolling, Jha said.

Breakaway parties -- Karnataka Janatha Paksha of Yeddyurappa and BSR Congress formed by former Minister B Sriramulu -- are projected to dent the prospects of BJP, already battered by intra-party fights and allegations of corruption.

Jha said two officials on poll duty died at Honnavar in Uttara Kannada district and in Tumkur district. Sectoral Officer M C Mahendra died before poll in Honnavar early today and Thimmaiah, who was the Presiding Officer, passed away following suspected cardiac arrest in a booth in Madhugiri taluk.

A Haveri report said Leelavathi Mekki, a 28-year-old teacher, who reported for poll duty yesterday at Negalur in Haveri district complained of chest pain and died today in neighbouring Davangere, where she was shifted.

Pre-poll surveys have predicted that Congress is all set to emerge as the single largest party or be at a striking distance of coming to power in the elections.

The strength of BJP, which won 110 seats in the 2008 elections, is forecast to come down by more than half, and that of JDS to improve by a dozen seats compared to 28 the last time around.

Police have arrested four persons who were openly wielding swords in the district headquarters town of Kolar, adding that a major clash was averted between supporters of an independent and a political party.

At Sidlagatta in Chikkaballapura district, one person was injured seriously by supporters of another party. In a Bellary booth, a voter was allegedly hit by a policeman over a trivial issue and sustained injuries in the ear.

In the 2008 elections to the total of 224 seats, BJP, with 33.86 per cent of the votes polled, secured 110 seats, followed by Congress (34.59) with 80 seats and JDS (19.13) with 28 seats.

While the overall voter turnout was 64.91 per cent in the 2008 elections, the average in the 28 segments of Bangalore was a low 47.3 per cent. The lowest in Bangalore was in Sarvajnanagar at 35.40 per cent.

Polling in Bangalore Urban areas was 52 per cent "or so" till 5 PM today which, Jha noted, was better than the 2008 figure.

Bangalore, May 5: An estimated 67 per cent of the about 4.36 crore electorate voted in the largely peaceful Assembly polls in Karnataka today amid projections that the beleaguered ruling BJP was on a sticky wicket against a resurgent Congress.

The 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. vote kicked off on a brisk pace initially but appeared to lose steam as the mercury soared before picking up momentum again in the last hours in 223 segments, where a total of 2,940 candidates were in the fray.

Election in Periyapatna in Mysore district had been put off to May 28 following the death of the BJP candidate. "Polling was peaceful. We have no reports of poll disruptions," Joint Chief Electoral Officer T Shamaiah told PTI, adding that polling was 60.68 per cent till 5 PM.

Election Commission officials said the figure was estimated to be around 65 per cent by the close, but the exact poll percentage is expected later following compilation from all the segments. The counting will be done on May 8.

Prominent candidates included Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee G Parameshwara, former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and JDS state unit President H D Kumaraswamy.

Authorities had made elaborate security arrangements with some 1.35 lakh police personnel on duty in some 52,000 polling booths where about 65,000 electronic voting machines had been installed.

Barring sporadic incidents, including one at Bellary, the voting was largely peaceful.

Breakaway parties -- Karnataka Janatha Paksha of former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and BSR Congress formed by former Minister B Sriramulu -- are projected to dent the prospects of the BJP, already battered by intra-party fights and allegations of corruption.

Bangalore, May 5: About 60 percent of the 43.6 million voters cast their ballots as voting came to end at 6 p.m. in the 14th Karnataka assembly polls Sunday to decide the fate of the first BJP government in south India, an official said here.

In Bangalore, which has earned notoriety for low polling, the balloting pace had yet not picked up as only 30 percent of the city's seven million voters exercised their franchise, an election official told reporters.

"Polling is progressing in a peaceful manner in the state and around 60 percent voting has taken place by 5 p.m.," the spokesperson said.

Booths opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 6 p.m.

Election officials said in a few villages in north Karnataka people had stayed away from voting protesting against lack of basic facilities like drinking water.

The polling began on a brisk note, despite hot weather conditions across the state. The votes will be counted May 8.

With the Election Commission (EC) advancing commencement of polling by an hour to 7 a.m., hundreds of voters made a beeline to booths in many of the 223 assembly constituencies to cast their vote through electronic voting machines (EVMs).

But in the first four hours of voting, polling was just about 15 percent.

The EC has also extended the duration of polling by an hour to 6 p.m., in view of the scorching summer heat across the state, including Bangalore.

Polling is being held for 223 of the state assembly's 224 elected seats. Election from the Periyapatna constituency of Mysore district has been countermanded, following the death of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Sannamoge Gowda April 29. Polling there has now been rescheduled for May 28.

One seat in the state assembly is reserved for a nominated member from the Ango-Indian community.

"The voting process began on a peaceful note in all the 223 constituencies across the state under tight security. It started slowly and is picking up well," a poll official told IANS nearly an hour after the exercise got underway.

In all, 52,034 polling booths have been set up across the 223 assembly segments, with 10,103 of them declared hyper-sensitive and 14,209 as sensitive.

Of the state's 61.13 million population, 43.6 million are registered voters, comprising 22.22 million men and 21.35 million women. First-time voters in the age group of 18-22 years are 3.55 million.

As the state capital, Bangalore has the largest number of voters -- 7.03 million of a total population of 10 million -- and the highest number of assembly segments at 28.

Among the eligible voters in this tech hub, 534,548 are new, as they enrolled for this election in January.

"We have formed about 2,000 flying squads comprising five members each, including a photographer and a video-grapher to record the proceedings and ensure free and fair voting," the poll official said.

About 253,000 officials from state and central governments and state-run organisations are on poll duty, with 48,182 police personnel outside booths and about 100,000 additional forces deployed around booths to maintain law and order.

The total number of candidates in the fray are 2,948, including 170 women candidates.

Major political parties such as the ruling BJP, the Congress, the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) and the newly-formed Karnataka Janata Party (KJP), a party of the BJP rebels led by its first chief minister in the southern state B.S. Yeddyurappa are contesting in all the 223 constituencies across the state.

Brisk, enthusiastic polling marks Karnataka election

Bangalore, May 5: Polling for the Karnataka Assembly elections began on a strong note today with a voter turnout of an estimated 15 to 20 per cent in the first three hours.

106-year-old seer of the Tumkur-based famed Siddaganga Mutt, Shivakumar Swamy, was among the early voters.

Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu, Union Ministers M Mallikarjuna Kharge and M Veerappa Moily, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara, BJP State unit President Prahlad Joshi, and Karnataka Janatha Paksha supremo B S Yeddyurappa were among those who voted in the initial hours.

Barring a tiff between a voter and an on-duty policeman in a Bellary booth with the former sustaining minor injuries leading to protests by a section of electorate there, polling was so far peaceful, sources said.

At a couple of places, including in Mahadevapura segment in the city, polling was delayed by a few minutes following malfunctioning of electronic voting machines.

Sources in the Election Commission estimated the poll percentage by 10 AM to be in the region of 15-20 per cent. Polling has been extended by an hour and will take place till 6 PM.

Authorities have made elaborate security arrangements for peaceful and smooth conduct of polls, which commenced at 7 am.

Enthusiasm of voters was particularly evident in the city, with techies working in the Information Technology sector going out in large numbers to elect their representatives.

Polling is being held in 223 segments, with the one in Periyapatna in Mysore district having been postponed to May 28 following the death of BJP candidate.

More than 4.35 crore people are eligible to exercise their franchise in the single phase poll.

Over 2.5 lakh people are on poll duty. Police personnel deployed on the ground are more than 1.35 lakh, with authorities keep a special vigil in hypersensitive booths with the help of cameras. There are a total of 2940 candidates in the fray.

Eariler

Voting begins for Karnataka Assembly Polls

Bangalore/Mangalore, May 5: Voting began on Sunday at 7 a.m. for Karnataka Assembly polls, as people across the state thronged polling booths amidst tight security to decide whether the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party deserves another chance or give the mandate to other contenders, including the Congress.

Elaborate arrangements have been made to conduct free and fair elections in 223 assembly constituencies across the state through 6,200 pollings booths, involving about 100,000 officials and over 135,000 security personnel drawn from central and state police forces.

Though the assembly has 225 seats, including one nominated member from the Ango-Indian community, polling is being held only in 223 constituencies. The poll in the Periyapatna assembly segment in Mysore district has been countermanded following the death of Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Sannamoge Gowda on April 29, 2013. It has been rescheduled to May 28.

In some polling stations, tents have been erected and provis­i­ons for drinking water made for the convenience of the vote­rs.

As a precautionary measure, the Election Commission has banned sale of liquor for 48 hours from Friday 5 pm to Sunday 5 pm across the state, when polling is slated to end.

The state police and excise departments have set up 170 inter-state border check-posts, 130 liquor surveillance squads and 170 intra-state check-points to prevent illegal transport of liquor, cash or other materials and their distribution to induce voters.

Central police forces are being deployed in the Maoist-affected areas in central and coastal districts of the state to ensure the electorate will be able come out and vote without fear.

"We have identified 9,954 hyper sensitive, 14,209 sensitive and 149 Maoist-prone polling booths across the state for extra protection. As a precautionary measure, 85,338 licensed guns have been deposited with police stations. All check-posts and flying squads have been put on alert to prevent appeasement of voters," state's Additional Director General of Police Bipin Gopalakrishna Hosur said.

In the 2008 Assembly elections, the State recorded a polling percentage of 64.87 while the turnout in Bangalore was 47.3 per cent. In view of the poor response last time, the Election Commission undertook a slew of measures to encourage more people, especially youth, to participate in the electoral process. It conducted Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation campaigns, including street plays and awareness programmes in colleges.

Highlights

Duration of polling extended by one hour (7 am to 6 pm)

Indelible ink will be marked on ring finger of left hand.

Arrangements made to distribute voter slips near polling booths also.

Parties barred from conducting pooja to EVMs & in polling booths.

About 35 lakh new voters to exercise their franchise.

Total 2,940 candidates in fray for 223 constituencies

Certain hyper sensitive booths to be monitored through webcast by?EC

Prohibition on publication of exit polls has been extended till 6.30 pm.

Live Blog: Voting picks up in Coastal Karantaka