Mandya hogs limelight on polling day too

High drama unfolds in Tumakuru as BJP candidate visits the house of Congress leader

April 19, 2019 02:12 am | Updated 02:13 am IST - Bengaluru

Flash point:  Supporters of K. Nikhil and Sumalatha involved in a clash  in Maddur taluk of Mandya on Thursday.

Flash point: Supporters of K. Nikhil and Sumalatha involved in a clash in Maddur taluk of Mandya on Thursday.

Mandya Lok Sabha constituency, which was in the limelight all through the campaign owing to the high-profile contest and the slew of controversies, drew the attention on the polling day too, with group clashes as well as high voter enthusiasm. Mandya registered a turnout of 80.23% — the highest among the 14 constituencies that went to the polls on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, a polling booth agent of BJP-backed Independent Sumalatha, who is taking on JD(S) candidate and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s son K. Nikhil, was injured after rival party workers allegedly assaulted him at Basavanapura in Malavalli taluk.

In another incident, the rival camps clashed at Doddarasinakere in Maddur taluk, where Ms. Sumalatha exercised her franchise. It is said that the clash took place when Mr. Nikhil’s roadshow was passing through that village when Ms. Sumalatha was interacting with her supporters after casting her vote. However, police intervened to pacify both the camps.

Similarly, a minor clash took place between BJP workers, who were supporting Ms. Sumalatha, and JD(S) workers at Hasahalli in Mandya town.

Interestingly, unlike Ms. Sumalatha, the JD(S) candidate exercised his franchise in the neighbouring constituency of Bengaluru Rural as he is a voter there.

Surprise move

Tumakuru, where JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda is contesting, witnessed high drama as BJP candidate G.S. Basavaraj visited the house of senior Congress leader and former MLA K.N. Rajanna on the polling day. Even as this triggered political speculation, Mr. Basavaraj defended his action by maintaining that he had gone to Mr. Rajanna’s house to seek his blessings as both of them were old friends.

The police seized ₹5.49 lakh in cash in Madhugiri taluk of Tumakuru and arrested an attender of Chennabasaveshwara Institute of Technology in Gubbi, which is owned by the BJP candidate.

Another high-profile constituency of Hassan, where Minister H.D. Revanna’s son Prajwal Revanna is taking on BJP’s A Manju, witnessed long queues outside polling booths.

Dakshina Kannada too saw a high voter turnout. In Mysuru, the election process remained peaceful, barring stray incidents of suspension of polling owing to temporary malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and complaints of missing names from the voters’ list.

Actors turn up to vote

A large number of film personalities turned up to vote on Thursday. Film stars such as Sudeep, Darshan, Yash, Ganesh, Raghavendra Rajkumar, Upendra, Prakash Raj, Sumalatha, Ravichandran, Bharathi Vishnuvardhan, and Shubha Poonja were spotted in queues outside polling booths in Bengaluru. Mr. Prakash Raj, Independent candidate for Bengaluru Central, voted in the school he had studied in. Actor Ramesh Arvind, said, “I have never missed exercising my vote” and added “the enthusiasm this time is unprecedented”.

Patients come out to vote

Ananthacharya Agnihothri, a 91-year-old freedom fighter admitted in a private hospital in Jayanagar in Bengaluru for chronic kidney disease, did not want to miss voting as he has been exercising his franchise since 1952 without a break. Hospital authorities took him in an ambulance to Balavikas International School in Nagarbhavi 2nd Stage where he voted. Ravikumar S., 50, who underwent a liver transplant on April 17 in Bengaluru, was desperate to go out from the ICU and vote. However, he could not do so as doctors advised him against it.

In Udupi, Jayasheela Poojary, who had injured his leg in an accident and was discharged from a private hospital 10 days ago, was taken in an ambulance to the polling booth at Ulthoor near Kundapur. He had been advised rest for three months and was unable to walk. He was taken inside the booth on a stretcher.

Newly-weds make a mark

For some couples, the start of their married life was marked in ink. Across Karnataka, newly-weds hurried to polling booths in their wedding finery after completing the rituals. At a polling booth in Bhagyanagar in Tumakuru, newly-wed couple Apoorva and Praveen Kumar cast their votes, as did Y.L. Chandrakanth and K.G. Divyanjal at Shukravara Santhe in Hassan district. Shwetha and Shirish Karkera went to a polling booth in Dakshin Kannada Lok Sabha constituency to cast their votes after they tied the knot at a hotel in Surathkal.

No strict enforcement of ban

Voters from across constituencies noted that not all polling booths were enforcing the ban on mobile phones. When asked about this lapse, an official said it was not possible for them to check every voter, or monitor so many devices. Police personnel on duty said they could not guarantee that the phones would not be stolen. However, the rule was more strictly enforced in Bengaluru Rural where voters were asked to leave their phones outside the polling booth.

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