BENGALURU: Early hours of voting witnessed a good turnout in the bye-elections held for three Assembly constituencies in Karnataka on Wednesday.
The Election Commission of India reported a voting turnout of 10.14 per cent between 7 A.M. and 9 A.M.
The bypolls are being held for Channapatna Assembly constituency in Ramanagar district, Sandur Assembly seat in Ballary district and Shiggaon Assembly segment in Haveri district.
The high-profile Channapatna seat saw a turnout of 10.34 per cent of voters, the Shiggaon segment witnessed 10.08 per cent of voting and the Sandur seat saw a voters’ turnout of 9.99 per cent.
Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, HD Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy is the NDA candidate contesting under the JD(S) symbol from the Channapatna seat.
He is also the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.
Former senior BJP leader, CP Yogeshwara is the Congress candidate from here.
Former Chief Minister and BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai’s son Bharat Bommai is the BJP candidate from the Shiggaon Assembly constituency.
The Congress has fielded Yasir Ahmed Khan Pathan as its candidate.
Annapurna Tukaram, wife of former minister and Congress MP, E. Tukaram is the candidate for the grand old party from the Sandur Assembly segment.
The BJP has fielded Bangaru Hanumanthu, State Morcha President as its candidate.
The Congress, BJP and JD(S) have carried out high-voltage campaigning for the bypolls as the results are expected to have a direct impact on state politics.
CM Siddaramaiah, facing allegations of corruption and investigation by the Lokayukta and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) case will find it difficult to continue in his position if the BJP manages to win all three seats.
The results are also crucial for Union Minister Kumaraswamy to consolidate his position in the BJP at the national level.
State BJP President B.Y. Vijayendra will have a difficult time in case of a setback as he is facing internal challenges by senior leaders.
There are 2.36 lakh voters in the Sandur constituency and of these, 1.18 lakh are women. There are 29 voters belonging to the third gender category and there are 153 polling stations.
There are a total of 2.32 lakh voters in the Channapatna seat including 1.20 lakh women and 8 third gender voters. The Vokkaliga and Muslim voters are in large numbers in the constituency. There are 208 polling booths in the constituency.
There are a total of 2.37 lakh voters in Shiggaon among which 1.16 lakh are women and 6 are third gender voters. The voting would be held in the 196 polling stations across the constituency.
mka/rad