Voting peaceful in Vemagal ZP constituency

Good turnout: Voters throng booths for Vemagal ZP, Boodideru TP, Malur TMC bypolls

The byelections to Vemagal (Kolar), Boodideru (Mulbagal) Zilla Panchayat constituencies and Malur TMC 5 Ward, which had created much furore, concluded peacefully on Tuesday.

Except for a few instances of heated exchange of words between voters and the police the voting was largely peaceful.

Voting which was lacklustre until 11 am gained pace after noon. 84.67 per cent people turned out to vote.

Vemagal

Candidates of all the three major parties in the State Congress, BJP and the JD(S) and independent candidates supported by district-incharge Minister Varthur Prakash and D R Shivakumar Gowda were seen wooing voters at the poll booths since morning.

As the Vemagal Zilla Panchayat constituency is reserved for Backward Classes ‘A’ Group women, whoever wins in the byelection from the constituency has the chance of being a chief contender to the Zilla Panchayat president’s post. This element added colour to the byelection in Vemagal.

EVM malfunction

Voting was delayed by half an hour at Singenahalli polling booth in the taluk owing to EVM malfunctioning.

The voting resumed soon after Assistant Commissioner R S Peddappaiah and tahsildar Dr Dayanand visited the spot and set right the error.

Argument

At Kurugal, villagers protested for a while accusing the police for reprimanding the election agents.

Voters also expressed dissatisfaction over the police abusing them when their behaviour was questioned. A verbal duel too ensued between the voters and police.

MLC casts vote

V R Sudarshan, MLC cast his vote at booth number 187 at Government Pre-University College in Vemagal village.

Highlights

* Total voters: 27,843
* Men: 14,278
* Women: 13,565
* Poll booths: 42