Voters' buoyancy ups polling

Around 77 per cent of the 4.95 lakh voters in three Assembly constituencies - Channapatna, Bangarpet and Jagalur - exercised their franchise during the bypolls on Saturday.

Polling was incident free and peaceful. In Channapatna constituency, which witnessed its second bypoll in as many years, 79 per cent of the 1.88 lakh electorate cast their votes.

In the 2009 by-election, the voting percentage was also 79. The spate of polls does not seem to have deterred the electorate of the toy town from coming out in large numbers to exercise their democratic right.

The constituency had clocked above 75 per cent polling during the recent panchayat elections. The results will indicate whether the electorate has accepted or rejected BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’.

Seventy four per cent of the electorate in Jagalur turned out to vote on Saturday. The turnout was 72.5 percent in the 2008 polls. A direct contest was on cards between S V Ramachandra of the BJP and Y Devendrappa of the Congress in this ST reserved constituency. The votes secured by BJP rebel H P Rajesh could well be the deciding factor here.

Bangarpet recorded 80.05 percent polling, which was 73.47 percent in the 2008 elections. The Assembly segment witnessed a keen contest between the Narayanaswamys - M Narayanaswamy of the BJP and K M Narayanaswamy of the Congress.

More than 100 voters of Dadavalethupu village in Channapatna boycotted the bypolls. The villagers alleged that they had been ignored by all the parties. The village, located just four km from Channapatna town, does not have proper roads and drinking water facilities.

Faults reported

Faults were reported in eight EVMs at different booths of Jagalur during the initial stages of polling. The EVMs were replaced immediately. Tense moments were witnessed in Ramakrishna Hedge Layout in Bangarpet with residents complaining that their names had been left out of the voters list.

It will be a long wait for the electorate and candidates before the outcome of the bypolls is known. Counting of votes will be taken up on May 13, in view of the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.

Winning the three seats has become a prestige issue for Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa as the bypolls were necessitated following two Congress and one JD(S) legislators quitting their seats to join the BJP. 

The Congress and the JD(S) went to the people focusing mainly on ‘Operation Lotus,’ corruption and illegal land deal charges against Yeddyurappa.

Re-elections

While M C Ashwath of JD(S) quit his party and Assembly membership from Channapatna constituency, S V Ramachandra and M Narayanaswamy of Congress resigned their Jagalur (ST) and Bangarpet (SC) seats to defect to the saffron party. BJP had fielded Yogeshwar in Channapatna. Narayanaswamy and Ramachandra in Bangarpet and Jagalur are seeking re-election on BJP tickets.