Braving scorching heat, an estimated 65 per cent of about 4.36 crore voters exercised their franchise in the 223-member Karnataka Assembly election on Sunday.
The Congress looks all set to wrest power from the ruling BJP, which has been hurt badly by the damage inflicted by linagayt stalwart and former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa. A total of 2,940 candidates were in the fray. The counting will take place on May 8. 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 said, adding that polling was 60.68 per cent till 5 pm. Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and 106-year-old seer of the Tumkur-based famed Siddaganga Mutt Shivakumar Swamy were 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 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 largely peaceful, sources said. At a couple of places, including in Mahadevapura segment in the city, polling was delayed by a few minutes following malfunctioning in electronic voting machines.