BENGALURU : In the first election amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Karnataka saw better polling for four seats of the Legislative Council, compared to the previous polls for the same seats in 2014. On the day voters in Bihar polled in phase-1 of assembly elections, Karnataka witnessed voting for the South-East Graduates, West Graduates, Northeast Teachers and Bangalore Teachers constituencies of the Legislative Council.
By end of polling at 5 pm on Wednesday, West Graduates seat had seen 70.11 per cent polling while 74.84% polling was reported in Southeast Graduates seat. The Northeast Teachers constituency had recorded 73.32% voting and Bangalore Teachers constituency witnessed 66.2% polling. The voter turnout for these seats were 49.48%, 52.58%, 60.30% and 44.91%, respectively in 2014.
Given the pandemic situation, all polling stations were equipped with sanitisers and social distancing markers. Masks were mandatory for polling officers as well as voters. All polling material, including ballot papers and booths, were sanitised before voting commenced.
Two Covid-19 patients were seen voting at a polling booth in Annigeri of Dharwad district for the West Graduates seat wearing PPE kits. The administration had made arrangements for the patients to vote after 5 pm with adequate safety measures. In addition to patients, the poll staff also were seen wearing PPE kits.
Counting of votes on November 2
Counting of votes is scheduled to be held on November 2 and ballots will be secured in a sanitised strongroom till then. One counting centre each has been set up for West Graduates and Northeast Teachers constituencies in Dharwad and Kalaburgi, respectively. Two counting centres each have been set up for Bengaluru Teachers and Southeast Graduates constituencies in Bengaluru.
The Southeast Graduates constituency is set to see a fight between JDS candidate R Chowda Reddy Thoopalli and Ramesh Babu of Congress, while Sankanur S V of BJP hopes for a reelection from West Graduates seat. Northeast Teachers constituency is set to see a fight between BJP’s Shashil Namoshi and Congress’ Sharanappa Mattur vying for re-election.
In Bengaluru Teachers constituency, Puttanna from BJP, Praveen Peter from Congress and A P Ranganath from JDS are in contest. “We have made earnest efforts to win all four Council seats. We have backed an independent candidate in West Graduates constituency and appointed Basavaraj Horatti as in-charge,” said JDS national president H D Deve Gowda on Wednesday.
He insisted that JDS is not a non-entity in either the Council polls or bye-elections to two assembly seats — Sira and Rajarajeshwari Nagar. The BJP, on the other hand, said it was keen on Council seats and bypoll seats too. “Opposition parties may think what they like, but BJP will win not just all four Council seats, but also the Sira and RR Nagar seats,” said Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa.
Officials of the Election Commission of India said no untoward incident was reported in any of the polling stations. Voting was facilitated for constituents of Teachers and Graduates seats in Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Davanagere, Dharwad, Haveri, Gadag, Uttara Kannada, Bengaluru Rural and Urban and Ramanagara apart from flood-hit Bidar, Kalaburgi, Yadgir, Raichur, Koppal and Ballari districts.