The Hindu : Karnataka News : Turnout 40 per cent in peaceful bypoll

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 14, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Turnout 40 per cent in peaceful bypoll

By Our Staff Correspondent

BIDAR, OCT. 13. A voter turnout of 40 per cent was recorded in Wednesday's byelection to the Bidar Lok Sabha seat. This is the third lowest figure ever recorded. Polling was peaceful and no untoward incident was reported.

The second general elections to the Lok Sabha saw the lowest poll percentage. As a two-member constituency after its merger with Gulbarga, Bidar had 14,36,748 voters, of whom only 5,31,073 exercised their franchise, registering a polling percentage of 36.96.

In the 1980 elections, only 2,66,925 of the 2,76,075 voters (39.95 per cent) turned up at the polling booths.

In Wednesday's byelection, necessitated by the death of BJP leader Ramachandra Veerappa, 5,49,910 of the 13,74,776 voters (40 per cent) exercised their franchise.

The highest poll percentage of 63.27 was witnessed in the 1999 elections. In the other elections, the figures were between 45 per cent (in 1984) to 60 per cent (in the 2004 general elections).

The Assembly-wise break-up of the polling percentage in the byelection is as follows: Aurad - 44, Bidar - 43, Bhalki - 42, Humnabad - 37, Hulsoor -32, Basavakalyan - 38, Aland - 42 and Kamalapur - 42.

Rain hits polling

Mahayala Amavasya (which fell on Wednesday), considered holy by some sections of Hindus, heavy rain in and around Bidar, and general disinterest in the byelection may be the reasons for the low voter turnout, according to political observers.

A boycott call, given by the agitation committee of farmers displaced by the Karanja irrigation project demanding a better rehabilitation and resettlement package, affected polling in some villages. The president of the committee, Suryakant Patil Dakulagi, said people in Kheni Ranjol, Bombulagi, Rekulagi, Nedvancha, Bavgi, Nelwal, Sangolagi, Markhal, Sirsi and Aurad Sirsi did not vote.

People in Dhannura (K), Dhannura (K) wadi and Bosga village in Basavakalyan Assembly segment; Sonkera and Sikandrabad wadi in Hulsoor segment; Eklaspur in Bhalki segment; and Dhammur in Kamalapur segment also boycotted the polls. Tight security arrangements were made to maintain law and order.

`Congress will win'

Political parties listed a general indifference among voters, the Election Commission's insistence on voters producing documents to prove their identity, and the decision to hold the bypoll on Sarva Pitra Amavasya day, as the reasons for the low turnout. Narsingrao Suryavanshi, Congress nominee, said people usually did not vote in large numbers in a byelection as it did not have the potential to change governments. However, the Congress would win despite the low turnout, he added.

Baburao Gudage, Janata Dal (Secular) vice-president and agent of the party candidate Babu Honna Nayak, said the indifference of voters to the bylection was the reason for the low percentage of polling. The BJP blamed the Congress of having conspired to ensure a law polling percentage by arranging the election on Sarva Pitra Amavasya.

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