Karnataka - Mysore   

66.24 per cent voting recorded in district

MYSORE: There was moderate to high turnout with nearly 66 per cent of the 20.54 lakh voters exercising their franchise during the first phase of the elections held for the 11 Assembly constituencies in the district.

The turnout was higher in rural areas (65 per cent) and in the districts than in the city (50 per cent), and even within Mysore urban areas dominated by the affluent and educated class of voters, there was a relatively low turnout and poor voting percentage.

The voting percentage in the eleven Assembly segments of Mysore district were: Krishnaraja (63.4 per cent); Chamaraja (52); Narasimharaja (49); Periyapatana (74.85); Hunsur (68.99); Chamundeshwari (66.83); Varuna (76.32); T.Narsipura (68.46); H.D.Kote (68); Nanjangud (70) and K.R.Nagar (71).

Though the voting was low to moderate in the initial stages, it picked up momentum and there was brisk polling late in the afternoon. The District Election Officer, P. Manivannan, said that in many constituencies, the polling continued as late as 7 p.m. in view of the lengthy queues and all those who had entered the polling booth on or before 5 p.m. were allowed to cast their votes as per the norm.

The high turnout in the late afternoon and evening was particularly heavy in Hunsur and Periyapatana Assembly constituencies where the tobacco farmers were busy because of the recent rains. They had to work overtime to rush to the polling booths by 4.30 p.m. In such places, the voting continued beyond 7 p.m. as there were more than 150 people still in queue in many booths. The scenario was similar in H.D. Kote, but in Mysore urban, there was a low turnout.

Krishnaraja Assembly segment, which normally has a high turnout, saw a dip and the voting percentage was 37.85 per cent at 3 p.m. But it went up to 63.4 per cent by late afternoon. There are nearly 1.77 lakh voters here but the constituency saw an addition of nearly 40,000 voters from Kuvempunagar areas considered to be dominated by the educated elite class. Similarly, the voting was relatively low in Chamaraja, again dominated by the educated class. By 3 p.m. only 39.33 per cent of the 2.03 lakh voters had exercised their franchise. The scenario was, however, no different in Narasimharaja constituency where the voting percentage was only 39.33 per cent out of 1.99 lakh voters. But most of the figures climbed up by late evening.

But rural Mysore fared better and the voting percentage had surpassed the 45 per cent mark in all the Assembly segments by 3 p.m.

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