The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Overall polling percentage is 54.60

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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Overall polling percentage is 54.60

Special Correspondent

Turnout in the first phase of polls was low compared to the one in 2004

Polling was extended up to 7.45 p.m. at some stations
Poll percentage in Bidar bypoll was 53.14

Bangalore: The final polling percentage in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections in the State has been put at 54.60. Seventeen parliamentary constituencies went to the polls in the State on Thursday.

Polling at several stations in some of the constituencies was extended up to 7.45 p.m. as under election rules voters who queue up at polling stations before the closing time have to be permitted to exercise their franchise.

The turnout in the first phase of polls in the State is relatively low compared to the nearly 64 per cent recorded in the 2004 general elections.

Chief Electoral Officer M.N. Vidyashankar has recommended repolling at three stations — Doddagollarahatti in Yeshwanthpur Assembly segment of Bangalore North Lok Sabha constituency, Gangonahalli in Magadi Assembly segment of Bangalore Rural constituency and Veeragowdanahatti in Channapatna Assembly segment of Bangalore Rural constituency. The electronic voting machines (EVMs) at these stations failed.

In the 2004 elections, repolling was held in nearly 50 polling stations following equipment failure.

The Election Commission has approved repolling at the three stations between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The Election Commission will also finalise the compensation to be paid to a micro-observer who died of heart attack outside a polling station in Nelamangala on polling day.

Chikkodi recorded the highest percentage of voting (67.81) in the first phase followed by Kolar (67.71) and Chickaballapur (65.67).

Among the lowest were Bangalore South (44.73 per cent), Bangalore Central (45.25) and Raichur (45.91). The overall percentage in the other constituencies is follows: Belgaum (54.95), Bijapur (47.28), Gulbarga (49.21), Bidar (53.09), Koppal (55.37), Bellary (61.44), Uttara Kannada (59.23), Chitradurga (54.50), Tumkur (64.79), Bangalore Rural (57.92) and Bangalore North (46.78).

In previous elections too urban areas in the State recorded low percentage of polling compared to the rural areas.

In Bangalore, the voting percentage was 46 per cent and the figure was the same in the first phase of the current elections as well.

It has largely been attributed to the urban voters’ apathy towards elections.

In the last Assembly elections, the segments in Bangalore North constituency recorded an overall voting percentage of 45.67 while in Bangalore South it was 46.54 per cent.

On Thursday, the polling percentage in Bijapur city was 40.42, Gulbarga South 46.42, Gulbarga North 41.11, Bellary city 46.33, Raichur city 36.36, Chitradurga 46.10 and Tumkur 46.08.

While the Hoskote Assembly segment recorded a high polling percentage of 81.38, the lowest was the Sarvagnanagar Assembly segment in Bangalore Central at 36.23 per cent.

A total of 1.43 crore voters, comprising 76.19 lakh men (56.61 per cent) and 67.26 lakh women (52.61 per cent), cast their votes.

Asked about the complaint lodged by the Bangalore South candidate, Krishna Byre Gowda, over the names of voters of a given community having been deleted from the final voters’ list, the Chief Electoral Officer said the complaint has been forwarded to the Returning Officer of the constituency. An inquiry is being conducted by the Returning Officer, who is a quasi-judicial authority.

The overall poll percentage in the Bidar Assembly byelection was 53.14.

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